Michael Franzese: Former caporegime in New York's Colombo crime family and son of underboss Sonny Franzese. Once one of the highest-earning mafia members via a gasoline-tax fraud, he later left the life, became a Christian, and now works as an author and motivational speaker.
What this episode covers
Franzese traces his path into the mafia, joining to help free his wrongfully-convicted father rather than out of ambition, and explains the structure, rules, and code of mob life. He details the gasoline-tax fraud that brought in up to $8-10 million a week through Panamanian shell companies and hundreds of gas stations. He describes the brutality of the life, including a friend forced to kill his own father, his own 29 months in solitary confinement, and the night his father betrayed him in a room where he believed he would be killed. He explains how meeting his wife and a betrayal by his father pushed him to walk away, survive a contract on his life, and rebuild through faith. The conversation closes on business lessons from mob life: negotiation, sit-downs, delegation, and taking personal responsibility.
The guest's own work
I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse
Michael Franzese
“you mentioned this I wrote a book uh was actually a business book I'll make you an offer you can't refuse hoer Collins was the publisher”— Michael Franzese
Mafia Democracy
Michael Franzese
“your book is incredibly inspiring it's also incredibly fascinating um Mafia democracy by yourself and the forward on here is from Rudy Giuliani”— Steven Bartlett
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Sony Walkman
Sony
“fortunately I had a Sony Walkman music was you have no idea music was so soothing”— Michael Franzese
Big reveals from this episode
- Diary of a CEO hits 7 million YouTube subscribers.
- Franzese's father asked if he could kill someone before letting him join; Franzese answered yes.
- Reveals the gasoline-tax scam brought in $7-10 million a week, selling half a billion gallons a month.
- Recounts a made man who killed his own father on a mob contract and hasn't entered his house alone in 20 years.
- His own father betrayed him the night he was walked into a room he thought he wouldn't leave alive.
- Confirms the boss could order a murder of one of their own, no questions asked.
- Indicted six months earlier than his ex-prosecutor lawyer predicted, derailing his plan to hide money.
- Spent 29 months and 7 days in solitary confinement after refusing to fully cooperate.
Worth remembering
- During Prohibition there were 36,000 illegal speakeasies in New York alone, all controlled by the mafia.
- There were five New York families totaling about 750 made men in Franzese's era.
- He ran the gas-tax operation for seven years, cycling shell-company licenses to stay ahead of the government.
- His mafia induction was a 1975 Halloween blood oath, burning a saint's image in his hands.
- He kept his own crew hidden from the family so none of them would fall if his operation collapsed.
- He and his partner held $33 million in a numbered Austrian account, each knowing only half the number.
- His father's three prison survival words: 'please, thank you, excuse me.'
- His book 'Mafia Democracy' carries a foreword from Rudy Giuliani, who once prosecuted him.
- Franzese on trust: 'You can't fake trust. Trust for me is evidence.'