1. Arnold Rothstein, nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler who became a kingpin of the Jewish Mob in New York City.
27 Facts About Arnold Rothstein
1. 2.
Arnold Rothstein was a mentor of future crime bosses Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, Bugsy Siegel, and numerous others.
3.
Arnold Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business run like a corporation", and gained notoriety as the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early 20th century capitalism and came to dominate them".
4.
Arnold Rothstein's notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musical theater productions, television shows, and films, including the character Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby.
5.
Arnold Rothstein refused to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed poker game and was murdered in 1928.
6.
Ten years after his death, his brother declared Arnold Rothstein's estate was insolvent.
7.
Arnold Rothstein was born into a comfortable life in Manhattan, the son of an affluent Ashkenazi Jewish businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife, Esther.
8.
Arnold Rothstein's father was a man of upright character, who had acquired the nickname "Abe the Just".
9.
Arnold Rothstein was highly skilled at mathematics, but was otherwise uninterested in school.
10.
Arnold Rothstein was known to be a difficult child, and he harbored a deep envy of his older brother Harry, who studied to become a rabbi.
11.
Abe Rothstein believed that Arnold always craved to be the center of attention and became frustrated when he was not.
12.
Arnold Rothstein invested in a horse racing track at Havre de Grace, Maryland, where he was reputed to have fixed many of the races that he won.
13.
Arnold Rothstein had a wide network of informants, very deep pockets from some among his father's banker associates, and the willingness to pay a premium for good information, regardless of the source.
14.
Arnold Rothstein's successes made him a millionaire by age 30.
15.
Arnold Rothstein supposedly refused Sullivan's proposal but when he received Attell's offer, Arnold Rothstein reconsidered Sullivan's first offer.
16.
Arnold Rothstein figured that the competition to fix the game made it worth the risk to get involved and still be able to conceal his involvement.
17.
David Pietrusza's biography of Arnold Rothstein suggests that the gangster worked both ends of the fix with Sullivan and Attell.
18.
Under the pseudonym "Redstone Stable", Arnold Rothstein owned a racehorse named Sporting Blood, a very popular racehorse in the early 20's, which won the 1921 Travers Stakes under suspicious circumstances.
19.
Arnold Rothstein allegedly conspired with a leading trainer, Sam Hildreth, to drive up Sporting Blood's odds.
20.
Arnold Rothstein collected over $500,000 in bets plus the purse, but a conspiracy was never proved.
21.
Arnold Rothstein frequently mediated disputes among the New York gangs and reportedly charged a hefty fee for his services.
22.
Arnold Rothstein often stood on the corner surrounded by his bodyguards and did business on the street.
23.
Arnold Rothstein made bets and collected debts from those who had lost the previous day.
24.
On November 4,1928, Arnold Rothstein was shot and wounded during a business meeting at Manhattan's Park Central Hotel at Seventh Avenue near 55th Street.
25.
Arnold Rothstein died two days later at the New York Polyclinic Hospital.
26.
Arnold Rothstein claimed the game was fixed and refused to pay, provoking his murder.
27.
Arnold Rothstein says this was in retaliation for the murder of Schultz's friend and associate Joey Noe by Rothstein's protege Jack "Legs" Diamond.