I doubt Conte cares if he was respected, he was a capo and filthy rich. Was able to integrate himself in the legit world as a big businessman and his kickup was insane he was probably near a Galante/Bonanno level smack dealer. Gotti instructed Gravano to tell Conte to restart his pipeline thats how much he earned.

Not every mobster needs to take a life to be an asset. He made tens of millions, lived the last 14 years of his life free and only did 7 and a half years. They retired him because of that but I doubt he was upset.