11 Most Expensive Ransoms Ever Paid

8.John Paul Getty III, 1973

Nominal value of the ransom: $3 million

Value in 2015 USD: 16.3

In 1973, members of ‘Ndrangheta (criminal organization from Italy’s region of Calabria) kidnapped John Paul Getty III, a grandson of Jean Paul Getty, an oil baron and the richest American at the time. After strained negotiations, which involved cutting off of the victim’s ear and mailing it to the family and a ransom demand being delayed by the strike of Italian post, loving grandpa agreed to pay $2.2 million out of $3 million kidnappers demanded. Why 2.2? Well, it’s simple really. That was the maximum amount that was tax deductible. Grandpa also agreed to lend the rest of the money to the victim’s father, who was also his son, at 4% interest rate. $3 million and one ear was the price John Paul Getty III’s freedom.