Before Prohibition ever came about, Old Joe made tons of money on Wall Street using extremely crooked tactics including insider trading with information gathered while being a state bank examiner. How the Kennedy Empire was Built ...and Other Scandals
By the time he used his money to get into Hollywood, Old Joe's reputation as a Wall Street Robber Baron was well established. The Robber Baron and the Film Industry
Whether he was a "Robber Baron" or not depends on how you define the term.
Can we agree to call him a "Scumbag"? :-)
Well, I guess you learn something every day. I'd never looked into it because frankly I wasn't that interested in Old Joe. It sounds like he was as big a weasel in business as he was in his marriage!