Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (August 15, 1911 – July 27, 1992) was an American mobster who served as underboss and front boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 until his conviction in 1986.

[1] Salerno divided his time between a home in Miami Beach, Florida, a 100-acre (0.40 km2) estate and horse farm in upstate Rhinebeck, New York, the Palma Boys Club in East Harlem, and his apartment in the upscale Gramercy Park section of Manhattan.

[3] Ever since the death of boss Vito Genovese in 1969, the real family leader had been Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo.

[1][8][9] While awaiting the Mafia Commission trial, Salerno was indicted in a separate trial on March 21, 1986, in a second federal racketeering indictment, which accused Salerno of having hidden controlling interests in S & A Concrete Co. and Transit-Mix Concrete Corp.[10][8] in the construction of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Trump Tower.

Salerno was also accused of illegally aiding the election of Roy Lee Williams to the national presidency of the Teamsters Union.

[10] In October 1988, he was convicted and sentenced to 70 years in prison, including a $376,000 fine, and ordered to forfeit half of the racketeering proceeds (estimated to be $30 million).

[12][13] An FBI bug had captured a conversation in which Salerno and capo Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello were reviewing a list of prospective candidates to be made in another family.

Frustrated that the nicknames of the wannabes hadn't been included, Salerno shrugged and said, "I'll leave this up to the boss"—a clear sign that he was not the real leader of the family.

[1] Salerno was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx in New York City.