Arnold Rothstein
| Arnold Rothstein | |
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| Born |
January 17, 1882 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1928 (aged 46) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | The Brain, Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll |
| Occupation | Racketeer, businessman, crime boss, bootlegger |
| Parent(s) | Abraham and Esther Rothstein |
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Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 6, 1928), nicknamed "the Brain", was an American racketeer, businessman and gambler who became a kingpin of the Jewish mob in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series.
According to crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top". According to Rich Cohen, Rothstein was the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early century capitalism (giving people what they want) and came to dominate them". His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals and films.
Rothstein refused to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed poker game and was murdered in 1928. His illegal empire was broken up and distributed among a number of other underworld organizations and led in part to the downfall of Tammany Hall and the rise of reformer Fiorello La Guardia. Ten years after his death, his brother declared Rothstein's estate was bankrupt.
Arnold Rothstein was born into a comfortable life in Manhattan, the son of a well-off Jewish businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife Esther. His father was a man of upright character who acquired the nickname "Abe the Just". Arnold was highly skilled at mathematics but was otherwise uninterested in school. His older brother, on the other hand, studied to become a rabbi.
Rothstein was known to be a difficult child and harboured a deep jealousy over his older brother Harry. Rothstein's father believed that his son always craved to be the center of attention would often get frustrated when he was not. His father pointed to an event in 1890 (when Rothstein was eight) to prove this. Rothstein's mother had gone to visit her mother across state, she took her eldest son Harry and her newborn daughter with her, leaving Rothstein. The night she left, Rothstein's father found him crying in the bottom of a closet, Rothstein reportedly said, "She hates me and you hate me, but you all love Harry. Nobody loves me."
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