Generoso Pope Jr. (13 January 1927 – 2 October 1988) was an American media mogul who created the right-wing populist The National Enquirer tabloid.
Biography[]
Generoso Pope Jr. was born in New York City, New York in 1927, the son of immigrant media mogul Generoso Pope. His godfather was Mafia boss Frank Costello, and he took over the daily operations of Il Progresso Italo-Americano at the age of 21 and served in the CIA's psychological warfare unit. In 1952, he acquired the New York Enquirer for $75,000, and he increased its circulation during the 1950s and 1960s, using gory and unsettling headlines to attract viewers (getting the idea from watching people congregate around auto accident scenes). He died in Manalapan, Florida in 1988.