#kidnappiing

John Paul Getty III was the grandson of the oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty. The grandfather was once the richest person in the world but he was also renowned for being a cheapskate.

Following his parents’ divorce in 1964, John Paul Getty III moved to Rome as a young teenager with his father. His stepmother died of a heroin overdose in 1971 and, although his father returned to England, he remained in the city by himself. 

In 1973, aged 16, John Paul Getty III was kidnapped by the ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia organisation based in Calabria. A ransom note was sent to his mother demanding $17 million.

The family doubted the verity of the kidnapping as not only was John Paul errant and rebellious, but he had previously joked that he would fake his own kidnapping in order to extract money from his rich grandfather.