How did Gatsby make his fortune?

Gatsby made his fortune through bootlegging.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, Jay Gatsby’s immense wealth is connected to the illegal alcohol trade during Prohibition. Tom Buchanan exposes this source of money during the confrontation at the Plaza Hotel, calling Gatsby a bootlegger and linking him to criminal business associates. The novel also hints at Gatsby’s partnership with Meyer Wolfsheim, a figure associated with organized crime.

Bootlegging means the illegal production, distribution, or sale of alcohol. It was especially profitable in the United States after the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act established national Prohibition in the 1920s. Gatsby’s parties, mansion, cars, and clothes therefore represent wealth built outside respectable society, despite his efforts to appear polished and legitimate.

A common mix-up is to credit Gatsby’s fortune to inheritance or the stock market. He is not an heir, and the novel presents his money as illicitly acquired. Gatsby’s wealth helps him pursue Daisy, but it cannot buy the social acceptance or shared history he wants.