In reality all mob guys pay to be made. They pay in the sense in they are earners and kick up, they pay in a sense as an enforcer who does heavy work, you have some hybrids that do both. Some pay due to nepotism. They all pay the price. But yeah some paid a one time fee of $50k to be made, then paid a lot more after. Look at S------- and Rossatti. They made themselves rich without the help of the mob yet still joined for some reason. They were smart and haven't done jail time and the Colombo Family benefits financially. What's the downside for the Colombo Family allowing them to join? They get money from them, they don't allow them to partake in illegal activity therefore they will never get jammed up and rat. All they gotta do is go out for drinks once in a while and treat them like one of the boys. If the mob was smart they would have transitioned to this in 76, all legit except for gambling. No extortion drugs or anything else illegal. They had what 1200 members at most in New York back then? Could've put them on $100k salary while infiltrating legal businesses. Payday loans, title loans, consulting companies, legit union duties, talent and travel agencies, legit real estate biz, legit garbage biz, fish markets, butchers. They could've been 99 percent legit by now except for 2 factors. Greed and Ego