how much of his success was his genius or was their circumstances and alot of luck that allowed him to land all that success

he had mob money behind him, that allowed him to buy politicans,and dictators.

frank costello did the same. no genius, just vast amounts of cash. bugsy siegel had mob money behind him when he went to vegas, and built the flamingo, starting las vegas as a mob stronghold, was he a genius, or just had mob money.

This is actually a pretty good question; Did the guy die with over 400 million, or. 4-5 million? Was he a mastermind or just a mafia accountant?

Everything I've read about the guy suggest that initially, he and Bugsy were MUSCLE, primarily protecting shipments of liquor...



It's just weird to me, to think that he only had like under ten mil when he died. You know guys like Costello, Catena, Salerno, Profaci, these guys left huge fortunes. It's weird to think a guy like Philly Lucky died richer than a Meyer Lansky. How is that even possible? Really?

He's another guy, kinda like Lucky that I don't know if the whole truth is really known.......

I wouldn't call him a financial genius. Was he smart? Yes. The problem is that he had a ton of money and couldn't show any of it.

On paper, Meyer Lansky was worth almost nothing. Most of his money was kept in other peoples names. I know for a fact he transferred $15 million to his brother's account in the early seventies. That's $93 million in today's money and that's just one guy. Their were others and one of them remains one of the richest Jews in Miami. He was way richer than Philly Lucky.

Ahh, okay. It's just I've heard the " he was just an accountant" or " he only had 5 mil when he died" or " he was broke" so many times, read it a lot of places too.

I'm always like, is this the same guy who setup Swiss accounts, dummy corporations, loaned himself HIS OWN MONEY and then wrote it off as a business expense, THIS GUY WENT BROKE? Lmao.....

And not just that, but to be at the height of EVERY MAJOR RACKET FROM THE GET GO, liquor, drugs, gambling, I would call him a genius if he managed to keep his fortune hidden. All the REAL richest families do this to this day....

Yes, but he needed to show his money. What good is money if you can't use it? The main reason people don't have a lot of sympathy for Lansky is because of this fact. His family suffered greatly. His son Buddy had cerebral palsy and needed constant care. That guy starved himself to death at a beat up medical facility. You know what's crazy though? Meyer's brother Jake died about eight months after Meyer died, and when Meyer's family came for the money Meyer had transferred to his brother, Jake's wife refused and claimed the money was hers. To this day, the descendants of Jake Lansky are multi-millionaires.

Lansky was an interesting guy and he may have been a genius in some ways. But the guy I always felt did it better was Moe Dalitz. He may not have been as powerful as Lansky, but he could at least show his money and he was able to get respect from more aristocrats than Lansky, at least publicly. Lansky was such a target. He was always seen as an organized crime figure. Moe Dalitz on the other hand was seen as a respectable member of the community and even received humanitarian awards.

Totally agree on this

Well, what do you know, common ground lol

I brought up Dalitz before in a past thread, as an impressive boss of his time. The guy built a GODDAMN HOSPITAL, for fucks sake. And unless I'm mistaken, he OWNED A CASINO, LIKE HIMSELF?

He's the type of guy I look at and to me, I would put him above A TON OF GUYS from his era.

Was it solely notoriety that made it impossible for Lanskyto get legit investments?

I'll tell you something else that had me call into question Lanskys intelligence, MOLASKA. To me, he could have seamlessly transitioned into legit liquor. If Profaci could how come he couldn't? I found it inconceivably shortsighted of him to skim the tax revenue. Why didn't he just run the liquor legit? Too stupid for someone that smart....

Ol' Jimmy Fratianno explains this perfectly in this vid at 7.30

Smart but not a financial genius.

@Billybrizzi


Now THATS a perfect post, lol nice one my man

Thank you kindly sir, that means a lot to me coming from you CG

Not only a financial genius but strategic genius as well. Involved in all Cosa Nostra decisions in the beginning, mastermind behind Las Vegas/Cuba who backed away in early 1960s. Only Robert Lacey says his power was over exaggerated....all others say he was all powerful. Hard not to believe the comments from others in the life and the FBI. Transferred his money to others....never hurt for money until the day he died....his brother, Melnick the attorney,others as well. Not providing for your family just reinforces he was a bad guy...no representation of lack of power or money. You can count on one hand the individuals who had as big or bigger impact on organized crime than Lansky.

Lansky was smart, but he was no Einstein. I think if they didn't kill Bugsy Siegel he would be more successful.

According to Lansky's biographer, Robert Lacey, in "Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life" (the best researched Mob bio, IMO), he was worth no more than $5-6 million at his peak--not chickenfeed then or now, but hardly a great fortune. The reason Lansky lived to age 81 and died peacefully, according to Lacey, was that "he was the accountant, never the boss," and so never incurred the jealousy that is so often fatal in Mob life.

Lansky wasn't so smart about Cuba. He invested $5 million of his own money, and $6 million of others' money, in the Havana Riviera, Cuba's largest hotel/casino, which opened in March 1958. Castro nationalized it the following year--Lansky and his investors lost eveything.

Cuba was a mess, Siegel and Dalitz were smarter to stay in Vegas.

Anyone who read Michael corbitt's book Double Deal would think lanky ass a genius.

Myself, after reading double deal I wondered jyst how fuckin dumb this motherfucker Corbitt was...

Lansky did have legitimate investments and for a long time he had money he could rightfully show. For years he lived in the penthouse suite at the Majestic in Manhattan. That's not cheap real estate. What happened was Cuba. The amount of money he could show was probably about as much as his Cuban interests. I believe he became very nervous as a result. The fact that he was a big name in the eyes of law enforcement didn't help.

I'm reading a great book about Lansky at the moment so I might have more to say later, but from what I know about the guy Lansky wasn't a financial genius, but a very smart man who was involved in the rackets. Right place right time helped also.

Good call on Moe Dalitz doing it better BTW Ralph

exactly. I do not understand to this day why the mob, consisting of lifelong gamblers, never took risks regarding who to back. Always went with both sides and tried to play both sides. Failed with Castro/Batista, failed with kennedy/nixon. Always turned to shit.

Especially with Batista, he was a 100% safe bet to back. Corrupt to his core.