Boss Earnings

[Wiseguy]

That said, I'm kind of skeptical of some of the figures given even for the big drug guys, like the $30 billion net worth you hear attributed to Pablo Escobar.

A better example - with real figures - would be when the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers of the Cali cartel were prosecuted by the U.S., who estimated their worth at about $2 billion.

[scagghiuni]

That said, I'm kind of skeptical of some of the figures given even for the big drug guys, like the $30 billion net worth you hear attributed to Pablo Escobar.

A better example - with real figures - would be when the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers of the Cali cartel were prosecuted by the U.S., who estimated their worth at about $2 billion.

escobar and el chapo were probably worth 2 billions, drug money estimates are highly inflated by media, a street pusher earns very little, the wholesale suppliers earn more but less than one could think

[JCB1977]

Not sure where you are getting millions from. His own testimony says he was only getting 500 bucks to 2 grand a month from his top Capos. When he flipped he only had something like 10 million in cash and assets and that was after being boss for 13 years, UnderBoss for the 8 years before that and a top Capo for the 5 years before that. So it's clear he was not pulling in millions a year.


Pogo

That’s crazy. Lenny Strollo in Youngstown, OH had $6 million in real estate assets alone with another $12 million in cash that was recovered by the Feds and he was just a Capo. They let him keep all of it after he agreed to testify. Mike Genovese, boss of Pittsburgh, made a $25 million deposit into Swiss Banks in 1992 through money launderer Vic Calautti. Smaller family bosses had a much bigger piece of the pie than NY bosses not having to share territory.

[JCB1977]

Al Capone was the most wealthy and the whole gross income for his entire organization in his biggest year was $105 million, meaning that ne netted about $5 million in 1927 dollars before taxes.

$5 million in 1927 dollars is roughly $100 million in today's money, just for comparison.

I think Meyer Lansky might have been telling the truth - or close to it - when he said "I wish I had a million" when someone asked him if he had $300 million.

I actually used the inflation calculator and $5 million in 1927 would be about $72.5 million in 2020. Not bad.

Dollar numbers about gangsters are some of the biggest gross exaggerations I have ever seen & have no "business" sense to them. lol
Capone, for example, had cost of goods, payroll, payoffs to Police, losses from the Feds raiding him sometimes, percentages to partners etc.
Even after that, the guy was extremely successful & lucky not to have been killed.

Cool, thanks for that. Completely forgot about the inflation calculator.

You're right about gangster earnings. The moderately successful ones get to be upper-middle class; the absolute most successful get to be low-level millionaires. Being a gangster isn't about getting rich; it's about getting to live a comfortable middle-class lifestyle without having to do a 9 to 5 job. Very few people realize this and think "getting rich" is what being a gangster is all about. You can get low-level rich being a gangster, but that's not the main point.

I think the situation in Canada is quite different since drugs is their bread and butter. Only the gangsters who are major drug dealers make tens of millions if not more. The Rizzuto family may be worth as much as 100 million.

Then you’re forgetting about Moe Dalitz from the Mayfield Road Mob in Cleveland, he was worth over $300 million when he died after planting his flag in Vegas. He was arguably the wealthiest gangster of all time with no narcotics trafficking

[SonnyBlackstein]

My opinion, Massino’s full of shit.

Only ‘some’ captains paid monthly tribute? ‘Urso $5-600? Fuck off.

Another example where Massino has motivation to lie, and IMO, is clearly doing so.

I call bullshit.

[Uncle Pete]

For a lot of street guys they aren’t even thinking about making x amount of money and saving it and becoming a millionaire over time. As Junior Gotti said his fathers opinion of guys who saved money was “why? What’s on his mind?”

Think about Henry Hills statement at the end of goodfellas. He basically talks about the mentality towards money is just blow it! You can always just go out and rob or steal or borrow more!

Make enough money to blow it all on a few bottles of Dom and have strippers all over you at the club on Friday. Have enough cash to go to a restaurant or bar and show it off. Hop on a flight to Miami or Vegas on a Thursday and party all weekend. As long as these guys can still make enough money to party, show off, get laid, thats all most street dudes think or care about.

It’s a lot harder to live that party lifestyle of blowing money that you just worked 40-50 hours a week to make.

[Hired_Goonz]

Not sure where you are getting millions from. His own testimony says he was only getting 500 bucks to 2 grand a month from his top Capos. When he flipped he only had something like 10 million in cash and assets and that was after being boss for 13 years, UnderBoss for the 8 years before that and a top Capo for the 5 years before that. So it's clear he was not pulling in millions a year.


Pogo

That’s crazy. Lenny Strollo in Youngstown, OH had $6 million in real estate assets alone with another $12 million in cash that was recovered by the Feds and he was just a Capo. They let him keep all of it after he agreed to testify. Mike Genovese, boss of Pittsburgh, made a $25 million deposit into Swiss Banks in 1992 through money launderer Vic Calautti. Smaller family bosses had a much bigger piece of the pie than NY bosses not having to share territory.

HOLY FUCKIN SHIT! 25 million in 1992 dollars? I had no idea that even the boss of a small family would have dough like that. I wonder what a guy like Buffalino was worth then?

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge. Did Sammy Bull get to keep any dough as a part of his generous deal? I'm sure Sammy made a lot more than what Massino is claiming here, just based on all that money from the 80s construction boom alone not to mention all his other illicit revenue streams.

[Lupara]

That said, I'm kind of skeptical of some of the figures given even for the big drug guys, like the $30 billion net worth you hear attributed to Pablo Escobar.

A better example - with real figures - would be when the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers of the Cali cartel were prosecuted by the U.S., who estimated their worth at about $2 billion.

escobar and el chapo were probably worth 2 billions, drug money estimates are highly inflated by media, a street pusher earns very little, the wholesale suppliers earn more but less than one could think

2 billion is already an enormous amount. Why people always feel the need to exaggerate everything beats me.

[Lupara]

My opinion, Massino’s full of shit.

Only ‘some’ captains paid monthly tribute? ‘Urso $5-600? Fuck off.

Another example where Massino has motivation to lie, and IMO, is clearly doing so.

I call bullshit.

You think he was making more?

[SonnyBlackstein]

My opinion, Massino’s full of shit.

Only ‘some’ captains paid monthly tribute? ‘Urso $5-600? Fuck off.

Another example where Massino has motivation to lie, and IMO, is clearly doing so.

I call bullshit.

You think he was making more?

Almost certainly. I don’t believe only some captains were required to pay tribute. That literally goes against the entire grain of the system. It’s a Nonsense. Literally.

And the amounts he quoted are ridiculous. Urso $500 a month? Let’s say he has 7 guys in that crew. That’s $70 each a month. Anyone believe that number?

He had serious motivation to lie. And IMO has clearly done so.

[JCB1977]

Not sure where you are getting millions from. His own testimony says he was only getting 500 bucks to 2 grand a month from his top Capos. When he flipped he only had something like 10 million in cash and assets and that was after being boss for 13 years, UnderBoss for the 8 years before that and a top Capo for the 5 years before that. So it's clear he was not pulling in millions a year.


Pogo

That’s crazy. Lenny Strollo in Youngstown, OH had $6 million in real estate assets alone with another $12 million in cash that was recovered by the Feds and he was just a Capo. They let him keep all of it after he agreed to testify. Mike Genovese, boss of Pittsburgh, made a $25 million deposit into Swiss Banks in 1992 through money launderer Vic Calautti. Smaller family bosses had a much bigger piece of the pie than NY bosses not having to share territory.

HOLY FUCKIN SHIT! 25 million in 1992 dollars? I had no idea that even the boss of a small family would have dough like that. I wonder what a guy like Buffalino was worth then?

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge. Did Sammy Bull get to keep any dough as a part of his generous deal? I'm sure Sammy made a lot more than what Massino is claiming here, just based on all that money from the 80s construction boom alone not to mention all his other illicit revenue streams.

Think about it....As far as Pittsburgh is concerned, they controlled all of Western Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, the entire panhandle of West Virginia and parts of Western NY. That is a huge geographic territory with NO COMPETITION. Point is, they didn't have to compete with other families. It's like they said in the movie Donnie Brasco, 5000 wiseguys chasing the same nickel in NYC. Pittsburgh had the unions, gambling, casinos, extortion, loansharking and by the mid 1980's after the old man John LaRocca and Gabriel Mannarino died, Genovese aggressively pursued narcotics trafficking. The Pittsburgh connection from Goodfellas was Paul Mazzei and Chucky Porter and they were moving a ton of blow in conjunction with Ramon Sosa, a Cuban National in Miami, FL. Plus, Mike Genovese laundered tens of millions over the years into commercial real estate in the Pittsburgh area through two crooked democratic ward bosses. His son just recently sold about $8 million in commercial real estate that his father purchased and put into a private trust. The real estate was not in the best section of town but a developer bought it to turn into apartments and condos.

[Ivan]

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge.

Strollo had a prosecutor gunned down, too.

I think the feds just wanted to put the Youngstown Mob to bed once and for all and underplayed their hand against Strollo due to their zeal to get this good and done.

[JCB1977]

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge.

Strollo had a prosecutor gunned down, too.

I think the feds just wanted to put the Youngstown Mob to bed once and for all and underplayed their hand against Strollo due to their zeal to get this good and done.

No doubt about it Ivan. Strollo also had former prosecutor and defense attorney Gary Van Brocklin shot in broad daylight inside his law office. A hitman went in there and shot him in the leg as a warning to get a trial delayed. Regardless, Lenny had two casinos, one in Puerto Rico and one in the Caymen Islands under a corporation name, he owned a large fireworks company, 4 hotels between Puerto Rico and Grand Caymen...one of his partners in those businesses was Pasquale "Pat" Ferruccio. Joe Massino was bigger than Lenny Strollo. Old School guys like Lenny set themselves up for wealth. Not all gangsters did that.

[FriendofHenry]

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge.

Strollo had a prosecutor gunned down, too.

I think the feds just wanted to put the Youngstown Mob to bed once and for all and underplayed their hand against Strollo due to their zeal to get this good and done.

Lenny put out a hit on the Mahoning County Prosecutor but the guy he put on it had trouble with his S&W 357 revolver and didn't kill him

[FriendofHenry]

I find it completely baffling that they would let this Strollo keep his entire bankroll like that. I think Massino got to keep a couple properties but they made him hand over all the cash and gold bars. They must have really wanted Strollo"s testimony if they would give him a sweetheart deal like that. Christ, is that the best deal that a rat ever got? I don't know how much time he got or how many murders he copped to, but letting him just keep 12 mill cash plus all his real estate is huge.

Strollo had a prosecutor gunned down, too.

I think the feds just wanted to put the Youngstown Mob to bed once and for all and underplayed their hand against Strollo due to their zeal to get this good and done.

No doubt about it Ivan. Strollo also had former prosecutor and defense attorney Gary Van Brocklin shot in broad daylight inside his law office. A hitman went in there and shot him in the leg as a warning to get a trial delayed. Regardless, Lenny had two casinos, one in Puerto Rico and one in the Caymen Islands under a corporation name, he owned a large fireworks company, 4 hotels between Puerto Rico and Grand Caymen...one of his partners in those businesses was Pasquale "Pat" Ferruccio. Joe Massino was bigger than Lenny Strollo. Old School guys like Lenny set themselves up for wealth. Not all gangsters did that.

What about Paul Gains?