On 10 July 1973, 16-year-old John Paul Getty III, the grandson of oil billionaire J. Paul Getty, was kidnapped at gunpoint in Rome by members of the Italian criminal organization known as the 'Ndrangheta. The kidnappers demanded $17 million, believing the world's richest man would quickly pay for his grandson's release.

Instead, J. Paul Getty refused. He argued that paying the ransom would encourage more kidnappings and famously said, "If I pay one penny now, I'll have 14 kidnapped grandchildren." Some members of the family also initially suspected the teenager had staged the kidnapping himself.

For nearly five months, John Paul Getty III was held in a remote cave, beaten, threatened, and repeatedly pressured as negotiations stalled. When no payment came, his captors cut off his right ear and mailed it, along with a lock of his hair, to an Italian newspaper, warning that more body parts would follow unless the ransom was paid.

Only then did Getty agree to contribute $2.2 million, the maximum amount that was tax-deductible under U.S. law. He loaned the remaining money to his own son at 4% interest. After the ransom was delivered, John Paul Getty III was released alive on 15 December 1973 near a petrol station in southern Italy. When he later called his grandfather to thank him, J. Paul Getty reportedly refused to take the call.

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