During his five short-lived marriages, Getty had five sons, who went on to father 19 children. One of those grandchildren, John Paul Getty III, was kidnapped in Italy in 1973. Asked to pay a $16m ($120m or £90m today) ransom, his grandfather refused, saying, “I have 14 other grandchildren and if I pay one penny now, then I’ll have 14 kidnapped grandchildren.” Getty’s 16-year-old grandson was held for five months and his captors cut off his ear, sending it to a newspaper. A ransom of $2.8m ($21m or £16m today) was eventually paid, but Getty’s contribution wasn’t disclosed.
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