About Al Capone
Al Capone, real name Alphonse Gabriel Capone, was an American criminal and businessman who lived from January 17, 1899, to January 25, 1947. His estimated personal worth was $150 million. One of the most infamous gangsters of the Prohibition era was Al Capone. Al Capone, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, was the first gangster. During the Prohibition era of the 1920s, he established an organized crime empire in Chicago and accumulated enough cash to be unofficially dubbed the richest man in America in 1927. His spectacular rise was unmatched, but so too was his quick fall. Let’s look more closely.
Early years of Al Capone
Al Capone, an Italian immigrant’s son who was born in Brooklyn, started out as a criminal at a young age. In the sixth grade, Capone dropped out of school to join an infamous street gang in New York City that also featured future mentor Johnny Torrio and Lucky Luciano, another legendary figure from the underworld. The Prohibition era began with the adoption of the Volstead Act in 1919, providing gangsters like Al Capone with a prime opportunity to establish successful bootlegging operations. Early Al Capone’s Rise Torrio invited Capone to Chicago in the early 1920s, and soon after that, Torrio took control of the Chicago Mob with Capone serving as one of his right-hand men. As they seized control of the majority of the city’s bootlegging businesses, the two steadily increased their influence and power. They also owned a variety of clubs and brothels, among other companies that profited from vice. Torrio was forced to resign in 1925 after suffering serious injuries in an attempted murder, giving Capone the opportunity to take over as leader.
At his prime, Al Capone
With Capone the show, the Chicago Mob demonstrated brutality toward its rivals and enormous wealth for those engaged. Numerous estimates put the organization’s annual revenue when it was operating at roughly $100 million. In reality, as was already established, he was regarded as America’s richest man in 1927. During this time, Capone established a heroic reputation among Chicago’s impoverished and downtrodden by managing soup kitchens and occasionally displaying his benevolent side to regular people.
Al Capone’s Planned Valentine’s Day Massacre
He did, however, violently strengthen his control during this time, most notably in the horrific St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929. It was thought that Capone’s men lined up 7 members of a rival gang and shot them dead in cold blood while posing as police officers.
Elimination of Al Capone
When Capone was charged with multiple counts of violating the Volstead Act and tax evasion in 1931, his reign of terror came to an end. He continued to serve the majority of his 11-year sentence at Alcatraz before being freed in 1939, a shell of the man he had once been and suffering from advanced neurosyphilis. He ultimately suffered a stroke and died in 1947. The tale of Al Capone is intriguing on many levels. He took a perilous route to becoming one of the wealthiest men in America before being overthrown by the law at the height of his influence.
