What was Angela Raiola’s Net Worth?

Angela “Big Ang” Raiola, a reality star and author, passed away at the age of 55 after a year-long battle with throat cancer. With a net worth of $500 thousand, Big Ang was a popular character on VH1’s “Mob Wives” and had her own spin-off show called “Big Ang”. Additionally, she released a book titled “Bigger is Better: Real Life Wisdom from the No-Drama Mama” in 2012. Prior to her reality TV career, she was known as a “mob moll” and co-owned multiple mob hangouts. Big Ang was survived by her husband, Neil Murphy, and two children.

Early Life and Mob Ties

Angela Raiola, born on June 30, 1960 in New York City, grew up in the Genovese crime family. Her uncle, Salvatore “Sally Dogs” Lombardi, was a capo and drug dealer for the family until his death in 2009. Raiola, accustomed to an opulent lifestyle, became known as a “mob moll” as she began dating gangsters.

Big Ang Raiola’s Involvement in Drug Ring

Before gaining fame, Raiola was indicted in May 2001 for her role in a narcotics operation that sold and distributed crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and marijuana in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Federal agents claimed Raiola was an associate of the drug ring’s leader and distributed cocaine from various Brooklyn bars where she worked. Raiola was indicted on six felony counts and found with fourteen small plastic bags containing cocaine in her handbag. Two years after her arrest, Raiola pleaded guilty to the top count and was sentenced to three years’ probation and four months of home confinement. In 2007, Raiola opened a Staten Island bar, The Drunken Monkey, with her cousin, but it was forced to shut down in 2015 due to Raiola’s criminal past.

Big Ang’s Reality Television Career

In 2012, Big Ang Raiola made her reality television debut as a regular cast member on “Mob Wives” and remained on the show until its conclusion in 2016. During this time, she also appeared on a number of other talk shows and had small roles in films like “Scary Movie 5” and “Staten Island Summer.”

Raiola was given her own show, “Big Ang,” on VH1 in 2012, which followed her life as she dealt with family drama while running the Drunken Monkey bar. The show was picked up for a second season but was repackaged as a spin-off titled “Miami Monkey,” which premiered in 2013 and focused on Raiola’s efforts to open a second location of the Drunken Monkey in Miami. However, the show was cancelled in 2014.

Big Ang’s last on-air appearance was on “The Dr. Oz Show” in February of 2016, where she discussed her stage 4 brain and lung cancer diagnosis.

Big Ang Raiola’s Life and Death

In 2009, Raiola married Neil Murphy after being estranged from each other for a number of years. She already had two children from a previous relationship with Neil, Raquel and Anthony Donofrio.

In her 50s, Raiola was diagnosed with lung cancer. She sought treatment and was declared cancer-free twice only for the disease to return. She died at the age of 55 on February 18, 2016 due to complications from the cancer.

Following her death, a number of people made tributes to Raiola on social media, including former cast members, other reality television personalities, and family members.

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