Douglas earned an Academy Award for his role as Wall Street trader Gordon Gekko in the film “Wall Street,” with his famous tagline, “Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good.”

In the 1987 film Wall Street, the 65-year-old actor, who made the statement famous, admitted to trying too hard for the greens. Then he lost about half of his net worth during the 2008 recession.

Despite the fact that prices were beginning to rebound, he claims he was shocked into stopping his profiteering and withdrawing the majority of his funds from equities.

He tells Esquire magazine, “I lost 35-40 per cent of my net worth on the 2008 crash. I played. Years ago, through the tech booms, I definitely did it.

“At the end of last year, I took a whole bunch out.”

He also said that, like Gordon Gekk, he enjoyed playing a high-risk stock market game “I played. Years ago, through the tech booms, I definitely did it.

Michael is believed to be worth more than $212.5 million and is married to Catherine Zeta Jones, 40.

In September’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” the actor will reprise his role as Gekko.

It follows the character after a jail term for insider trading.

Douglas said co-star Shia LaBeouf, 23, played the markets to get into his role.

“He took US$20,000 and in six weeks he was up to $380,000. He did all right,” he told Esquire magazine.