Originally posted by Turnbull:
Most Mafiosi were, and are, no better than common criminals. But a few--Charlie Luciano, Frank Costello, Carlo Gambino--had real brains and force. They could have been successful in business, the professions or the arts if they'd had the chance, but they didn't.
Just the other night I had dinner with a very close friend and when we got back to my house the conversation turned towards the mafia, etc. In our conversation he had asked me about Luciano, Seigel and Lansky compared to the more modern mobsters of the last decade or so. I told him that in my opinion Luciano and Lansky were the Bill Gates of the underworld. I told him that there is no doubt in my mind that if Luciano and Lansky had been given the chance to be legitimate they probably would have been the majority stockholders and CEO's of major corporations.
TB, great minds really do think alike.
Don Cardi
