Former Mafia Boss: "I Was Running The Biggest Scam In The World! $1.4 Million A Day!" - Michael Franzese

Steven Bartlett (0:00)

In your time in the Mafia, what did you witness?

Michael Franzese (0:02)

I'm going to be honest with you. We're bringing in $9, $10 million a week. I was arrested 18 times and I saw guys that died for the wrong reasons. But I'll tell you one thing, Steve, you're not going to want to hear this, but it's the truth.

SPEAKER_3 (0:13)

Michael Franzese, one of the highest-earning Mafia members turned motivational speaker who was sharing the ruthless lessons he learned about business, leadership, and resilience.

Michael Franzese (0:23)

So there's two levels in that life. You're either a racketeer or you're a gangster. And I was a racketeer, meaning I was elevating the family by making them money. I had 18 companies defrauding the government out of tax, bringing in $10 million a week. I was living a lifetime in a jet plane, in a helicopter.

Steven Bartlett (0:39)

What was the most cash you ever saw?

Michael Franzese (0:41)

40, 50 million.

Steven Bartlett (0:42)

In cash?

Michael Franzese (0:43)

In cash. Now, you can learn so much from the Mafia. You know, I'll give you an example, the art of negotiations. This is a tremendous technique to get what you want. And I always want it. So here's what you have to do. Now, you may be making all this money, but we have rules. And don't violate the rules because the consequences are severe. There was a guy that had a kill's father. And then a very dear friend of mine, he did something that was a total violation of our life. And he ended up getting killed. But the one thing that really hurt me bad, my dad had a powerful position in the Mafia. And he betrayed me. That was rough. Steve, the thing is, I've done a lot of bad things in my life, but it's not the path that I wanted to take. I realized, I got to get away from this. But you don't walk away from this life. You're not allowed to do that.

Steven Bartlett (1:24)

When does it all come crashing down for you? Michael, who were you?

Michael Franzese (1:40)

Who was I? Interesting question.

I have to start with this, because you just came right off the bat and asked me a question that, I don't want to say stumped me, but maybe in a way did in the same way that Jordan Peterson did. I'll tell you why. Jordan said to me, he said, Michael, you spent 20 years in that life, obviously you did some things that were not good. I said, yeah. He said, well, how did you do that? I said, Jordan, when I had to do something that I was uncomfortable with, I stepped out of myself, I believe, took care of business, and then stepped back in. He looked at me and he said, well, how do you know who the real Michael is? The guy that stepped out or the guy that's sitting here in front of me now? I said, well, that's a good question, Jordan. I said, but I've been this guy for the last almost 30 years, so hopefully, this is the guy. So, who am I? I mean, I'm a guy that at a point in time in my life, I was on the right track, loved my dad very much, and as a result of that, I followed him into this life to try to help him out. He had a 50-year prison sentence. And I thought the only way to help him, and he thought the same, was to really get on the street and do some of the work that was necessary to try to overturn a conviction that he got, wrongful conviction, by the way. So I became that other guy that was able to, I was going to be a doctor. I was a pre-med student when my dad got this 50-year sentence. So, but then I just, I mean, I fell into that life and I thought I did a pretty good job while I was there. And I acclimated to it pretty easily.

Steven Bartlett (3:36)

When someone thinks about you joining the Mafia, they assume that your home life must have been a certain way. You must have had a really, really rough early upbringing. Is that the case?

Michael Franzese (3:49)

I had a very strict mother. I mean, she was 16 when I was born. And we had a very turbulent life because of my father's involvement in that life. My father was an extremely high-profile guy at that time, major target of law enforcement. So from the time I was four or five years old, my dad was in and out of jail, going on trial, and we had a lot of turbulence. Police around us all the time. So I witnessed all that, was part of that. I don't know if that contributed to who I am now.