I never got the impression that he tried to burn down an empire, if your a fan of the movies then you must read the books....they explain a lot. After movie 2 he insulated himself even more, sort of like Barney from the Genovese

"McGurn likes you, so I make you. So you are now one of us, if you fuck up, we take it out on McGurn. He is your sponsor. Fuck up, it's his ass. You work in his crew, he is your capo."