He started his career in real estate development before opening a business advisory firm focused on distressed assets and high-growth companies.
[2] After graduating high school early, Bergstein went on to receive a BS with a concentration in pre-medicine and mathematics at Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
[2] During his time in law school, Bergstein went on to become a research analyst, first for Salomon Brothers and then for Bear Stearns, where he specialized in the analysis of troubled or undervalued companies.
[2] In 2003, Bergstein and business partner Ron Tutor loaned money to Franchise Pictures, a film production company headed by Elie Samaha.
[18] On November 9, 2016, Bergstein was arrested at his Hidden Hills, California home after being indicted for fraud,[19] and was convicted by a Federal jury on March 1, 2018, of defrauding investors out of $26 million.
Bergstein cried as he requested leniency but United States federal judge P. Kevin Castel said his crimes needed to be "punished severely" to "send a message".