Gordon Gekko is a composite character in the 1987 film Wall Street and its 2010 sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, both directed by Oliver Stone. Gekko was portrayed by actor Michael Douglas, whose performance in the first film won him an Oscar for Best Actor. Co-written by Stone and screenwriter Stanley Weiser, Gekko is said to be based loosely on several actual financiers, including Stone's own father Louis Stone and corporate raider Asher Edelman. According to Edward R. Pressman, producer of the film, "Originally, there was no one individual who Gekko was modeled on", but added that "Gekko was partly Milken", who was the "Junk Bond King" of the 1980s. Gekko's "Greed is good" speech was influenced by a commencement address given by Ivan Boesky for the University of California, Berkeley School of Business, May 1986, where he commented on the beneficial side of greed. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Gordon Gekko No. 24 on its Top 50 movie villains of all time. Cultural impact Gekko has become a symbol in popular culture for unrestrained greed (with the signature line, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"), often in fields outside corporate finance. In the movie Boiler Room, a group of stock brokers (played by Vin Diesel, Nicky Katt, and Ben Affleck) gather at a friends house and watch Wall Street. The characters begin to perfectly quote Gekko's phone conversation when he first is introduced to Bud. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Gordon Gekko No. 24 on its Top 50 movie villains of all time. On September 25, 2008, Michael Douglas, acting as a UN ambassador for peace, was at the 2008 session of the United Nations General Assembly. Reporters sought to ask him off-topic questions about Gekko. He was asked whether he "bore some responsibility for the behavior of the greed merchants who had brought the world to its knees". Trying to return to topic, Douglas suggested that "the same level of passion Wall Street investors showed should also apply to getting rid of nuclear weapons." Douglas was also asked to compare nuclear Armageddon with the "financial Armageddon on Wall Street". After one reporter inquired, "Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?" Douglas stated, "I'm not saying that. And my name is not Gordon. It's a character I played 20 years ago." On October 8, 2008, the character was referenced