The posting of Massino's testimony got me thinking how little modern Bosses are actually pulling in.
From the tidbits posted by B.
Massino received around $150,000 - 160,000 in Christmas tribute from the family. As mentioned earlier, he said members were supposed to pay $1000 in Christmas tribute if they were able, so the total is consistent with his estimate that the Bonanno family had 150 - 160 members under him.
- He says only some captains paid monthly tribute to him, including Coppa ($2000), Cantarella ($1200), Urso ($500-600), and $500 a week from DeFilippo from a bookmaking business split with Vitale. This shows that the "kicking up" process wasn't as strict as people believe and in some cases involved the boss being a partner in an operation, not necessarily vertical tribute. There were other operations Massino inherited when he became boss of the family, including JFK airport activities and an electrician who paid $4000 a year to prevent union intervention. Anthony Mannone handled this for Massino and they split the money.
Add up all his tribute and he is not even close to pulling in a million a year. Probably not even half a million some years. I'm sure he could have gotten a little more by pressing some Capos but it is still crap considering he was the Boss of the number 3 or 2 family in the country. These low earnings are confirmed by Joe Defede who testified he only made 1.2 million during his time (1994-1998) as Acting Boss of the Lucchese family. Really this is peanuts even adjusted for inflation. Bosses today definitely don't have that Don Corleone money.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
At hes peak im sure he was bringing in millions the parking lots, kings caterers, the restaurant ,few envelopes from the zips and canadians hes book and loansharking with all due respect dont think you can compare defede and massino.
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
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
That $10 million in accumulated wealth before he flipped in 2004 would be worth nearly $14 million today. You also have to consider what he spent during all that time but it's anybody's guess.
That said, mob bosses (especially in more recent times) definitely don't have that "Don Corleone money" the public envisions. No $100 million checks to the poor in Sicily.
It's one of the things The Sopranos got right when Hesh estimated Tony - minus assets - was "worth under six" ($600,000).
don't believe everything you read....sure its not the days of prohibition where guys were worth 2-300mill but if you don't think these guys have $$ stacked away your crazy...its all cash hard to trace.
queensnyer wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:49 pm
don't believe everything you read....sure its not the days of prohibition where guys were worth 2-300mill but if you don't think these guys have $$ stacked away your crazy...its all cash hard to trace.
Nobody in Prohibition was worth 200 million. 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. There is a huge difference between gross & net. Capone had a huge payroll.
Confederate wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:21 pm
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.
It makes you wonder why a guy would want to be boss at all. A few thousand dollars a month isnt worth the long prison sentences they usually end up with. I wonder how much an imprisoned boss like Vic Amuso makes per year in tribute payments, and I wonder if he would demand larger payments since he isn't on the street making his own money.
"A thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers. Word up."
Confederate wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:21 pm
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.
When Meyer died his entire estate was worth about $10,000. He sunk most of his money into the Cuban casino and lost everything after Castro took over and threw all the mobsters out.
"A thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers. Word up."
Confederate wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:21 pm
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.
Confederate wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:21 pm
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.
Uncle Pete wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:05 pm
Didn’t he have millions in gold bars as well?
That was part of the 10 million he had when he flipped if I'm not mistaken.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Confederate wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:21 pm
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.
