How Much is a Degree Really Worth to a Mobster?

Stay in school, kids— it may help you become a better gangster. The University of Essex recently analyzed U.S. Census data and information from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to determine whether there was a correlation between college and income of American gangsters. Turns out, for each additional year of higher learning Italian-American gangsters did, they saw an increase of 8.5% in income. Guess college really does pay off, even for mobsters. The wealthiest of them all though? Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, with a net worth of $9 billion. Escobar didn’t even finish college; perhaps, his profession valued street smarts over academic knowledge. Two of the five on the list made their money doing real estate deals.

Looking for resources to help you find private commercial real estate dealflow? Sign up for a free trial to access the data as well as in-depth real-time profiles of private companies and their investment activity.