Unlock access with an Insider membership today.

Breaking Good | Michael Franzese

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and Michael Franzese discuss being raised in a mafia environment, having a high-ranking father within the crime family, the schemes and successes of his career, and the ultimate reasons for why he walked away.

Michael Franzese is an American former mobster once affiliated with the Colombo crime family. Most notable for his gas-tax scheme from the mid 80’s, it is estimated that Franzese at one point was personally making eight million dollars a week. At his height Franzese had achieved the rank of Caporegime, or the equivalent of a captain or general within the mob ranks, and was nicknamed the “Yuppie Don” as well as the “Prince of the Mob,” by his contemporaries. In 1986, Franzese was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy charges, and despite being released early, spent the next decade in and out of jail. In 1994 he was finally released, chose to retire from crime, and bought an estate in Florida. Since then he has traveled the world as a public speaker, and has written many books about his life and crimes, such as 1992’s Quitting the Mob, or his most recent 2022 publication, Mafia Democracy.