I would say the garbage industry. There are multiple people who were either high ranking members or associates of the Genovese family who were involved in garbage and their families might be worth hundreds of millions today. Unlike some mobsters in many other industries, their success and wealth were both cultivated and now they have financial empires that they got to enjoy and now their kids and grandkids get to enjoy it.

For sure many have taken loans to wash money and invested in real estate like bars restaurants and built apartment buildings to keep that money rolling in and legitimate and this is not just in NYC all over in popular small towns up state and many other cities have kept a small fortune growing into a very large or a large fortune into a huge one .

Easily repaying the loan quickly not to have to pay to much interest and of course all legal and a good way to mass a small fortune. Easy started with one small apartment building .

Did anyone ever go to jail for bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition? They say the Jews got out of organized crime within a generation. How much money did some people make during Prohibition only to turn around and leave that life altogether?

The guys who invested in real estate ended up being the richest of them all. Such as Francolino and Ponte. They were not made guys though which makes me wonder why such big money makers were never made.

Many people on here have great info on the Westside Genovese guys like Francolino, Ponte and others. If they were all subordinates of Malangone, I can only imagine how much money him and his family have today. How active was Mario Gigante in trash hauling with guys like that?

I think another industry would be food. The profacis are still very successful and prevalent in the olive oil business.

Gambling has been, by far, the most lucrative for Mob families because it includes loan sharking. That's probably true today, even with all the legal casinos and offtrack betting. Construction also has been and is very lucrative because the Mob dominates construction unions, as well as the businesses that supply concrete, drywall, windows, etc.

The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution outlawed the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, but didn't outlaw possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages. Plenty of gangsters were arrested for trafficking in booze, but they usually got light sentences, if any, since most Americans ignored Prohibition. (Johnny Torrio was one of the few who went to prison on a booze rap.) But: gangsters who had high law enforcement profiles because of their activities often became targets for other offenses--i.e., Capone went away for 11 years for tax evasion.

Jewish gangs dominated the booze business in most cities during Prohibition. Most went legit after Repeal, and some (like the Bronfmans in Canada and Louis Rosensteihl in the US) founded legal whiskey empires. A lot of Jewish Prohibition-era gangsters, like Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Moe Dalitz, dominated gambling in Nevada after it became legal in 1931. Lepke Bucholter amassed a fortune by completely controlling the Garment District in NYC in the Thirties.

Gambling...period

Would you all say gambling in the long term? Since for most of the mob’s existence it was not a legitimate business, many mobsters went to prison for many years because of it. Compared to something like construction or garbage hauling which was safer and for some of the top earners, just as lucrative. But I am not too well informed on the ins and outs and big players of gambling in the mafia like you all may be.

It's hard to argue with gambling overall, since it touches some many strata of business. The gaming is only part of it. Casinos need to be built, maintained, renovated, operated, etc. From loan sharking to garbage to food to real estate, it ticks all the boxes.

But Marcello was one of the wealthiest in his time and he didn't seem to directly operate any casino. Though there was a ton of gambling in NOLA.

The Westside wouldnt make guys like Ponte because that would put too much law enforcement heat on them, and they were generating so much money for the mob. If Ponte was a captain then he’s at risk for bigger sentences, verses as an associate his lawyer can say, “He’s not a member of the mafia, he’s a businessman who’s being extorted, etc”.

I think someone on here grew up with one of Pontes kids (or grandkids) and said they’re worth hundreds of millions.

Salerno was someone else who was big into gambling. I am missing many people. But how lucrative was it down the road compared to the other industries like garbage(many mafia members and associates were heads of garbage hauling/carting companies). Many of them became big in real estate and still are involved in the garbage business today. I don’t know any top gambling mobsters off the top of my head who left a fortune for their families the same way some in the garbage business did. Marcello and Salerno are possibly 2.

Counterfeiting money, cigarettes and all kinds of stuff I read counterfeit fashion alone brings in $600 billion annually and represents 5 to 7 percent of global trade.

someone posted on here awhile back ponte had a brother who was a made guy basically the muscle in the shadow or family members

Michele Zaza and Ciro Mazzarella were two of the biggest cigarette smugglers. It was estimated that Zaza was worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the time of his death but that could be exaggerated.

I never knew that. Did he ever have to do time unlike his brother?

What about Wall Street? Did the job ever truly penetrate Wall Street or were they too late to it so they never really ruled it with an iron fist? It is said that Sal Romano made more money for the american mafia than anyone ever has and he was richer than any mobster. Idk how true that is but he was very successful on Wall Street.

gambling, shy-locking and concrete

Of course concrete and construction were both big for the mafia. But with only 2% of a contract being kicked up to the commission, was the money really that mind boggling(when compared to other rackets)? And to add to that, they have to divide that 2% amongst 4-5 families(4 after the Bonannos were cut out of the commission). Maybe someone can educate me. It put them in a position of power because nobody could build without them. But how much money was really being made compared to garbage, gambling, gasoline tax, pornography, food industry such as olive oil and so on?

I'm not as informed as most on here but my guess would be the combination of gambling and loansharking. The two go hand in hand and with loans a mobster can then get into the legit business of the debtor and from there. Get into another connected business. Also it probably depends on the individual capabilities of each mobster. You can be a terrible bookie and lose your as s the same way a person could be a crappy business man. But the best can and do make fortunes on any industry.

Also drugs. Got to be a reason they still do it even with the harsh sentences, violence, competition ect.

I also really dig the payday loan stuff they do, even if they do nothing illegal it's still a cash cow and a fantastic way to launder money

Piggyback? What industry do they still make the most money from and or Friday dominate. Like they used to have a stranglehold with drugs.

That makes perfect sense. It is a business after all. I have often guessed what the big time gambling gangsters made over the course of their criminal career. Guys like Napoli and Salerno. Those are two people that come to mind.

They are with hundreds of millions because of the real estate that they have. There was an article in the New York post about them selling the building of their once famous restaurant for over $100 million. And that’s just one property out of many in their portfolio. Was he treated as a made guy because of his brother then? His brother was a made guy and reaped the benefits of the garbage business just like the rest of the family.

The Fulton fish market with guys like Romano, Gangi and others made a fortune in that business also.