Curtis Carroll

Carroll was born in Washington, D.C. and later moved to East Oakland, where he grew up, amidst the crack epidemic in the United States.[4] His mother was a waitress at a bowling alley and the family was often on welfare. He later befriended his mother's drug dealer, who taught him to steal quarters from arcade machines. Carroll was eventually caught and sentenced to juvenile hall.[2]

In 1996, at 17 years old, he murdered a man in a botched robbery attempt. Carroll turned himself in and received a 54 years-to-life sentence. He was illiterate when he was imprisoned but learned to read and write at the age of 20.[2][5]

Caroll became interested in the stock market after realizing its financial potential. He learned about the markets through the newspapers' financial sections.[5][4] He got his start investing in penny stocks by cashing in unused postage stamps he bought with revenue from his tobacco sales to other prisoners.[6]

Carroll's philosophy is that most crime is attributed to a lack of financial security, which has led him to teach other San Quentin State Prison inmates about the stock market.[5]

• Juvenile court
• Defense of infancy
• American juvenile justice system

• Project FEEL in the news
• Curtis Carroll TED talk