Sydney Korshak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sydney was born on the West Side, Chicago in 1909. Growing up in Chicago he got to know many mobsters like Al Capone, Frank Nitti and Sam Giancana. His wife played tennis with Dinah Shore and Korshak was known to have had a long-time affair with Stella Stevens.
Contents |
[edit] Business Adventures
Sydney made millions for Chicago. He built up political clout in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He lived in a Bel Air mansion and knew many of the Hollywood stars. He was friends with Lew Wasseman at MCA, Kirk Kerkorian at MGM, Charlie Bluhdorn at Gulf & Western which owns Paramount Pictures. Also when producer Bob Evans wanted Al Pacino free for The Godfather it was Korshak that got Pacino released. Sydney reffered to himself as a labor-relations expert but he is really a "fixer." A union would kick up a strike and Korshak would arbitrate it. Instead of a pay off he would receive a large legal fee, pay the taxes and divide it up among the mobsters.
[edit] His Headquarters
One of his smaller legitimate businesses was The Bistro, a restaurant in Beverly Hills. Korshak used a corner booth at the restaurant reserved for him to conduct his business ventures. He would have two phones wired up on the table. At The Bistro he would also be visited by friends and beautiful women.
[edit] Business Tactics
Sydney never had a briefcase or office keeping everything in his head. Korshak's clients included companies like Schenley, the Diners' Club, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chargers, Knicks, Rangers. He also had hotel chains like Hyatt and Hilton, the jukebox company Seeberg, National General, racetracks all over several continents. Sydney helped Moe Dalitz sell The Stardust to the Parvin-Dohrmann Company for a whopping $15 million. In the deal Korshak received a $50,000 finder's fee.
[edit] Mob Connections
Willie Bioff was once told by Cherry "No-Nose", a top capo for Frank Nitti to, "pay attention to Sid. He's our man. Remember, any message he may deliver to you is a message from us." Korshak bought the J.P. Seeberg Corporation and automatically boosted the company stock from $35 to $141.50 a share. He conducted some fancy telephone marketing and parceled off 143,000 shares to pivotal figures in the stock market like Bernard Cornfield who owned the FOF Property Fund in Switzerland. Of the $5 million he received he instantly plowed $4 million right back into the market buying shares through ninety open market transactions in which Sydney acquired more than 51,000 shares at a price from $68 to $107 a share.
Korshak died without ever having any criminal convictions against him in 1995.
[edit] Trivia
Sydney Korshak is the basis of David Strathairn's character in L.A. Confidential "Pierce Moorehouse Patchett".
[edit] References
The Last Mafioso: Jimmy "The Weasal" Fratianno by Ovid DeMaris
