I think the Genovese have had the best individual earners historically and during the “golden age” of the mafia. They had names like Salerno, Catena, Gigante, Napoli, Cirillo, etc. You could say the Gambinos with guys like Gambino(before he became boss), Tommy Gambino, DeMeo, Castellano, John & Rosario Gambino, Gravano, DiBernardo, Lombardozzi etc. I think another family that would have to be thrown in the mix is the Colombos with people like Franzese and the 2 alleged former Colombo soldiers who are currently worth hundreds of millions of dollars each due to their legitimate businesses. As a family, the Colombos probably never matched up to the wealth and power of the Gambinos or the Genoveses but they clearly had tremendous individual earners who could carry a crime family as they were supposedly making millions of dollars a week(if that is to be believed). Franzese actually said in an interview recently that Tony Salerno told him that he was welcome to switch to the Genovese family. Must’ve wanted a piece of that gas scam.

Is there any truth to what Franzese said when he got made/ or as his criminal career progressed that the Colombo family picked quality over quantity?

I would say the genovese. Look at the capos from the 60tys and 70tys. They had powerhouses in every racket. Matty the horse basically owns all the porno and clubs in times square. Mario gigante has all the garbage routes in ny. Tony pro and brithers running the union in new jersey. On and on. They had guys in Vegas miami half of new england

They had guys in the gas scam they just never rolled like michael franzese did and wrote a book. There guys probaly made just as much money. Think his name was joe glitz or something

I heard about that. I forgot his name as well but you are right there were a few others involved after Franzese. I’m not sure if anyone had as big of a piece of the scam as Franzese or not but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Genovese member made money like him. They were always lowkey.

I think every family was picking for quality. Maybe that’s just something they said to compensate for them not being on the Gambinos or Genonveses level. That’s just me guessing. But I don’t think any crime family recruits a potential member thinking that they’re not going to be good for their bottom line lol. Same goes for any business. But with Franzese and the two now former soldiers, they definitely had high quality earners off of them alone.

Great input idk how I forgot those guys. I know that they were also very low profile but are there any large dollar amounts that have been tied to them to really give the public an idea of just how much cash guys like this during this era were bringing in? The only mobster I really see who talks about personally making and laundering eye popping amounts of money is Franzese. But he couldn’t have been the only one in the mafia at that time making money like that of course. Just the most public.

Off the top of my head it would seem the Bonannos historically had the least. I could be wrong on that though. Can anyone name big time earners in that family through the years that weren’t drug related?

Bonannos: Sonny Black seems like a name that always comes up in discussions about earners. Wasn't there a Bonanno who did licks with Henry Hill and the Vario crew, that the FBI thinks still has Lufthansa money squirreled away?

Vincent Asaro.

As far as Sonny Black you may be right. I just don’t recall any big time money making rackets he was involved in other than your run of the mill blue collar rackets.

The Internet Fraud case with Richie Martino, Andrew Campos, Torre Locasio has to be one of the top scams ever for the Gambino's.

Frank Coppa Sr., he was one of the first mobsters to penetrate Wall Street & made millions using pump & dump schemes.

Their family has more rats then any of them, so, so much for quality !!

Also the Outfit with Las Vegas skimming made many milions.

Frank Coppa Sr.
Vincent Capasso
Thomas DiAngelo
Frank Tartamella
Michael Zaffarano
Nicolo Alfano
Angelo Caruso
Antonio Riela
Vincenzo Tarantola
Giovanni Tartamella

Some of these men had soldiers that dealed in drugs, but they were making a killing in Gambling, loan sharking, frauds, unions, garments, robberies, pornograph, boiler rooms, waste management, construction, chop shops, arms smuggling and cheese factories. There are a few other capos, but they were never convicted of narcotics violations, but with informants saying they were involved and always made sure they got their envelopes of the profits from the deals, I decided not to include them in the list.

Historically the Genovese and Gambinos had big time earners without the use of drug dealings.

Galante of course was a huge earner. Some say he made millions a day at one point but that was due to drugs, which doesn’t fit your criteria. Frankie Lino made some good money if I am not mistaken.

I found some more supposed Genovese top earners. Allie Malangone, Angelo Ponte and Carmine Romano. Ponte in particular really ended up making it big with his real estate holdings. After he passed, his family sold his restaurant in Manhattan for $115 million. That is just one of many properties that they have in their portfolio. His family is really sitting on a fortune. https://nypost.com/2018/11/11/family-that-ran-famed-restaurant-is-now-feuding-over-fortune/

Romano’s company Hygrade Ocean Products was purchased by Blue Harvest Fisheries in 2016 but it doesn’t say for how much anywhere.

It is very safe to say that their families are doing more than well.

Rosario Gangi was also involved in the Fulton Fish market and was a big earner because of it.

Does anyone think the Decavalcantes might have made more money than the Bonannos?