11 Most Expensive Ransoms Ever Paid

6.Patty Hearst, 1974

Nominal value of the ransom: $6 million

Value in 2015 USD: 29 million

Number six on our list of most expensive ransoms ever paid goes to Patty Hearst. The rich heiress was kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. The SLA didn’t want the money. Instead, they demanded that her father distributes $70 million worth of food to every poor family in California. Eventually, the two parties settled on $6 million in food, although SLA later claimed that the food was of a very poor quality. In an unexpected twist of fate, Patty joined the group. After participating in several crimes, including a bank robbery, she was arrested in 1975.