Prohibition may be the greatest gift any government ever gave its citizens. A barrel of beer cost $4 to make and sold for $55. A case of spirituous liquor cost $20 to produce and earned $90—and all this without taxes. By 1927, Capone’s organization—which, interestingly, had no name—had estimated receipts of $105 million. The scale of his operations unquestionably makes him one of the most successful businessmen in American history.
