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".[1] According to author 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".[2] His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals, and films, including the character Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby.[3]