Thanks for the input Giacomo.

I totally get that if a person did not invest, they didn't get a return. But there is a reason Joe Pistone said that Commission members come and go but the Commission has its own sources of money.

Let's say the Gambinos control a massive drug pipeline, from somewhere, anywhere. And that pipeline is under the supervision of a "Special Agent", a Capo or Captain with only a drug crew, a Capo who reports directly to the Gambino Boss. When a John Gotti comes along and engineers the ouster of a Castellano, or a Carlo comes along and engineers the ouster of an Anastasia, the tribute paid by that drug Capo gets kicked up to the new Boss. SO the money is unchanged. Operations are unchanged. The revenue is unchanged. Only the figurehead changes. A New Boss steps in and is all of a sudden commanding the drug Capo on pain of capital punishment to deliver the drug proceeds to him regularly.

In that sense an initial investment was not needed to get a return.

What I am proposing on this thread that is not proposed very often in mob lore is that the drug proceeds kicked up to the Boss from the drug Capo might in fact go into a pot that is shared equally with all the other bosses of the Commission. I could be wrong though. But then why was Carmine Galante whacked? Was it only because he appointed himself Boss? Why did Lefty say that Carmine Galante failed to "share" with his family? I think by family Lefty was not referring to the Bonannos, but to the Commission (the Bosses, Consiglieries, and Underbosses of all the major families). It is difficult to imagine that New York City was divided between 5 families and 5 Bosses and that the massive dock/harbor drug trade was hogged and monopolized by one or two bosses or three bosses and not shared.

That money was probably shared, split up 5 or 6 or 7 ways, and then laundered into Swiss bank accounts.