Half the battle is all about appearance, poise (or lack thereof), smarts, sharp look, and of course base intelligence to be able to get things done. There aren't too many guys like a Frank Costello or Joe Adonis anymore. They are far and few between (They always were. But nowadays its really dropped in able bodied sharp recruits).
I believe we both can agree that those guys were self made businessmen who could have ran fortune 500 companies but instead used their acumen to run their mob family instead. Only difference is one was illegal and the other was 100% legit. We also know that those guys did indeed run legit businesses to keep the feds at bay as much as possible and provide additional income for their mob family. You cannot be stupid or lack work ethic to be a successful mob boss. It takes just as much work ethic as any guy who runs a corporation. You are running a business and have to run it 24/7.
Fortune 500 companies lol. You make it sound like they simply chose not to go that route. Amazes me how people are fooled by the whole businessman myth.
Sure a lot of them were smart. So what? So are a lot of people. Doesn't mean they could run fortune 500 companies. And the people who do run those companies couldn't do a lot of other jobs. It takes all kinds.
These are degenerate, often sociopathic killers we're talking about. Don't like the competition? Threaten them. Murder them. Extort them. Steal the business. I haveva feeling even with guys like Castellano who loved to talk business, that those conversations were not nearly as deep as people like to imagine.
This was still a guy fucking dumb enough to be in a life surrounded by murderers, ordering crimes to be committed, etc etc.
