GOTTCHA

On June 10, 2007, HBO showed the final episode of its modern-day Mafia saga The Sopranos. Despite the much-discussed ambiguity of its final scene, the thrust of the series was clear: the era of the gangster was over. Ten years on, there is no doubt. The Mafia — for The Sopranos still a current event — is now history. In 2017, we look to the business world to provide our larger-than-life baddies.

Following The Sopranos, HBO made Boardwalk Empire, a period drama about the birth of the American gangster. Later this year we will have a view of its death, when John Travolta stars in The Life and Death of John Gotti. The film tells the story of the man often called The Last Don. As boss of the Gambino family from 1986 to 1992, he ran the most powerful crime syndicate in America. His interests in construction, waste, money-lending, gambling, extortion and hijack brought in hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

While enthusiastically embracing the darkest side of the American dream, Gotti also embodied another national obsession, the outlaw.. His daughter even had her own reality television show, . And back when hip hop stars still took the Mafia as their inspiration, he was namechecked by this issue’s Who Is the Rake, the Notorious B.I.G., as well as Dr Dre, Jay-Z and 50 Cent. For five years, he was king of New York. But it was he who consigned the Mafia boss to history.