The Diary of a CEOMichael Franzese: I Made $1.4 Million A Day In The Mafia
Former Colombo crime family captain Michael Franzese spills the inside story: how Mafia rules and sit-down justice built a 1.4 million dollar a day racket.
CHAPTERS
- 2:25 – 6:32
Origins, Identity, and a Childhood in the Shadow of the Mob
Franzese explains how he went from pre-med student to Mafia recruit, driven mainly by loyalty to his father, a high-ranking Colombo underboss facing a 50-year sentence. He recounts growing up with constant law-enforcement surveillance, early glimpses of his father’s violent side, and how he initially saw the Mafia as something almost noble and protective.
- •Grew up with a teenage mother and a highly targeted mobster father constantly under surveillance.
- •As a child, saw multiple agencies parked outside their home and came to hate law enforcement.
- •Early incidents—his father choking a man during a heated argument and knocking out a carpenter in their home—revealed a 'street side' he hadn’t seen before.
- •The Colombo family was already at war during his childhood; he later learned his father was a powerful captain and underboss.
- •Despite knowing his father was Mafia, he viewed his dad as a good father who initially wanted him to become a doctor.
- 6:32 – 17:33
Inside the Mafia: History, Structure, and the Commission
Franzese outlines the formal structure of a Mafia family and traces how the American Cosa Nostra evolved from Sicilian self-defense groups into a structured criminal organization supercharged by Prohibition. He describes Lucky Luciano’s creation of the Commission, the division into families, and the scale of Mafia presence in New York.
- •Clarifies ranks: boss, underboss, consigliere, capos (street bosses), soldiers (made men), and associates.
- •Explains that 'families' are organizations, not blood relatives; bosses or their representatives sat on the nationwide Commission.
- •Prohibition massively empowered the Mafia: 36,000 speakeasies in New York alone, all mob-controlled.
- •Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky helped formalize the Commission in the 1940s, turning fragmented gangs into a business-like structure.
- •At Franzese’s peak era, roughly 750 made men across the five New York families, with hundreds of associates.
- 17:33 – 21:20
Family Wars, Sit-Downs, and How the Mafia Decides Life and Death
He recounts the internal wars within the Colombo family and how, after the Commission, most violence shifted from inter-family wars to civil wars for power. He then details the formal 'sit-down' process for resolving business disputes and even deciding whether someone lives or dies, including his participation in such meetings.
- •Post-Commission, families no longer went to war with each other; conflicts were internal power struggles.
- •The Colombo family experienced three internal wars during his lifetime, always over who would be boss.
- •Sit-downs were the mandatory mechanism to resolve disputes; serious ones involved the boss whose ruling was final.
- •Strict etiquette: even if someone lies, calling them a liar is forbidden and loses you the case for disrespect.
- •Franzese attended sit-downs where men’s fates—including life or death—were debated by advocates on each side.
- 21:20 – 30:34
From Devoted Son to Mob Recruit: Joining and Training for the Life
When his father receives a 50-year sentence on what Franzese insists was a framed bank-robbery conviction, Michael abandons medical school to 'help.' He describes his recruitment conversation, including his father’s chilling question about killing, his two-and-a-half-year probationary period, and the cult-like demands of Mafia loyalty.
- •He believed his father’s conviction was a frame-up based on unreliable drug-addict witnesses and FBI pressure.
- •Out of loyalty, he tells his father he’s quitting school; his father reluctantly agrees and proposes him for membership.
- •His father asks, 'If you ever had to kill anybody, could you do it?' and accepts his 'yes' as the right answer.
- •The boss tells him: 24/7, the family comes before anything—even a dying mother—and places him in a pledge period.
- •Training included extreme discipline (never late, unquestioning obedience), menial work, and demonstrating readiness for violence.
- •He acknowledges the life is violent and says if a made member claims otherwise, they’re lying or weren’t truly made.
- 30:34 – 44:58
Violence, Human Nature, and the Cost to Families
Franzese discusses his father’s alleged involvement in dozens of murders, the Mafia’s internal moral code, and his refusal to publicly discuss any personal killings. He reflects on humanity’s capacity for violence, the trauma of seeing a beloved friend’s mutilated corpse, and how the Mafia destroyed his own family—addiction, overdoses, estrangement—convincing him the life was fundamentally evil.
- •FBI believed his father was involved in 30–35 murders; he was tried for one and acquitted, but known as a tough man.
- •Argues government must not break laws to prosecute criminals, or no citizen is safe from abuse of power.
- •Explains that the Mafia oath is about silence and obedience, not a mandate to 'lie, steal, cheat, and kill,' though those happen.
- •Rejects talking about his own involvement in murders due to legal, ethical, and personal reasons; sees murder as ugly, not boast-worthy.
- •Believes all humans can kill under certain triggers (e.g., defending family, wartime); cites military training as proof.
- •Describes seeing a mentor’s unrecognizable corpse and how compartmentalization helped him survive but resurfaces in dreams.
- •Details how his mother’s life, siblings’ addictions and deaths, and his father’s 40 years in prison left the family devastated.
- 44:58 – 52:02
The Gasoline Tax Empire: Making Millions and Buying Power
Franzese details his most lucrative racket: a massive gasoline tax scam that made up to $10 million a week and allegedly defrauded the government of hundreds of millions. He used shell corporations, bearer-share Panamanian entities, and slow tax enforcement to collect fuel taxes and never remit them, gaining enormous clout within the mob.
- •Exploited a law where licensed wholesalers collected fuel tax; set up 18 shell companies (many Panamanian) to get licenses and bank accounts.
- •Collected tax for up to a year before authorities caught up; then shut one company and moved to another.
- •Supplied 300–350 gas stations and barges of fuel from major oil companies, undercutting competitors by always being cheaper.
- •Told boss Carmine Persico to 'make me win every argument' in exchange for unprecedented earnings; claimed $2 million/week at peak.
- •Revenue bought loyalty and a promotion to capo; he lived lavishly with a jet, helicopter, and huge cash flows.
- •At one point saw $40–50 million in cash; had to deodorize 'gas-smelling' money in a refrigerator with baking soda.
- 52:02 – 1:05:20
The Oath, Racketeer vs. Gangster, and the Art of Negotiation
Franzese recounts his Halloween 1975 induction ceremony and explains how 'made men' see themselves as 'born again' into a new life. He distinguishes between gangster enforcers and money-making racketeers, and shares how sit-downs honed his negotiation and people-reading skills, lessons he later applied to legitimate business.
- •Describes the blood oath: finger cut, burning saint card in his hands, vow to Cosa Nostra under threat of death and hell.
- •Says he felt exhilarated, not scared, finally gaining formal status and a deeper bond with his father.
- •Defines 'gangster' as primarily a violent enforcer; 'racketeer' as someone who can elevate the family by making money.
- •Claims only about 20 of 115 Colombo made men in his era were serious earners; the rest lived off them.
- •He always entered sit-downs fully prepared: knowing personalities, desired outcomes, and fallback positions.
- •Key technique: let others talk first, remain the last to speak, use silence to conceal strengths or weaknesses.
- 1:05:20 – 1:16:56
Betrayal, Father–Son Rupture, and the Beginning of Exit
An article claiming he might start his own family triggers suspicions within the Colombos, and Franzese is summoned to a tense meeting. He later learns from a fellow captain that his father, questioned before him, did nothing to defend him, effectively 'throwing him under the bus.' This betrayal, combined with family ruin and his new relationship, begins to loosen the Mafia’s grip on him.
- •Media stories exaggerating his wealth and power (e.g., defrauding $2 billion) sparked envy and concern among mob leaders.
- •Summoned to a room to answer questions about money and loyalty; he felt it could have been a setup for his assassination.
- •A trusted captain later tells him: 'Your father was in there before you. He didn’t help you one bit; he hurt you.'
- •Franzese deduces his father distanced himself—'I don’t know what my son’s doing'—instead of vouching for him.
- •He interprets this as betrayal but later forgives his father, attributing it partly to his father’s preoccupation with his own 'legend' and influence from Franzese’s mother.
- •This moment, plus seeing the life’s toll, prepared him mentally so that when love and faith appeared, he was able to walk away.
- 1:16:56 – 1:35:55
Arrest, Hidden Money, and Life in Solitary Confinement
Franzese’s gasoline scam unravels after his 450-pound partner becomes an informant, leading to racketeering charges, a plea deal, and significant forfeitures. He hints at stashed cash, details a $33 million Austrian account the FBI couldn’t initially access, and recounts spending 29 months and 7 days in solitary confinement after refusing to cooperate further.
- •Partner flipped under unrelated charges; Franzese chose to fight him in court rather than have him killed, knowing he was 'weak.'
- •Pled guilty to racketeering conspiracy tied to tax fraud: 10-year sentence, ~$14.7M restitution, $5M forfeiture, but negotiated to keep enough money so his wife never had to work.
- •Describes a numbered Austrian account with ~$33M; partner eventually gave up his half of the number, and after Franzese’s plea, the U.S. obtained the funds; the partner got $2.5M back.
- •Admits to burying safes of cash; both law enforcement and mobsters assume he still has hidden money he might one day retrieve.
- •Explains prison survival rules taught by his father: 'please, thank you, excuse me' to avoid disrespecting volatile inmates.
- •Was put in solitary largely as retaliation for not testifying against a friend; calls extended solitary for young people a form of torture.
- •Survived solitary via music (Walkman), scripture, and radio sermons from pastor Greg Laurie, plus clinging to phone calls and visits with his wife and kids.
- 1:35:55 – 2:08:41
Love, Faith, and Building a New Life After the Mafia
Franzese credits his young wife, her Christian family, and eventually his own faith with giving him the courage and reason to leave the Mafia, despite a contract on his life and government pressure to become a major witness. He reunites with his father years later, sets boundaries, and now uses his story to mentor others, emphasizing that people can change and shouldn’t be permanently defined by their past.
- •Married a 20-year-old Christian woman who became the primary reason he chose to leave the life; he feared marrying her only to die in prison.
- •Did five years, came home for 13 difficult months under a death contract and government scrutiny, then violated parole and returned to prison; his wife had a breakdown but remained with him.
- •After about a decade of estrangement, he meets his father at home; their first words reveal their divergent paths—his father still thinking in mob terms, Michael firmly rooted in faith.
- •They have a hard, honest conversation about betrayal, expectations, and Michael’s refusal to return to the life; he forgives his father but keeps his boundaries.
- •He’s often criticized online for not attending his father’s funeral; he chose to mourn privately to avoid potential confrontations and 'performative' drama.
- •Now speaks globally about the mob, redemption, and business; Q&As often focus less on crime and more on relationships, reintegration, and emotional healing.
- •Launching a community platform to help people struggling with their own challenges, and stresses: 'You’re not defined by your past all the time; you can make changes in your life.'
