Billionaire grandson, J. Paul Getty III, died after years of torment.
The grandson of the billionaire businessman who founded the Getty Oil Company, J. Paul Getty III, has died in Britain at the age of 54, MSNBC reports. The death was announced by his son, Balthazar Getty.
J. Paul Getty III has been through plenty of trauma in his life. In 1973, when he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by gangsters in Rome, Italy, who demanded $17 million for his release. The family refused to pay the ransom, so the gangsters cut off Getty’s ear and mailed it to an Italian newspaper. The ear came with the following note:
“This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, the other ear will arrive. In other words he will arrive in little pieces.
Getty’s grandfather was still reluctant to pay the ransom, fearing that if he did, each one of his 14 grandchildren could become a target. But the family did eventually pay about $3 million, getting Getty released. Members of the Calabrian Mafia were later convicted in the kidnapping. Reportedly, Getty’s grandfather loaned the money for the ransom to the family, and insisted that it be repaid with interest.
Getty’s ordeal reportedly included being chained to a stake for five months. When he was discovered, he called his grandfather who refused to take his call, The Telegraph reports.
After the kidnapping, more tragedy followed. Within a year of the ordeal, Getty married German actress Martine Zacher, with whom he had a son, film actor and model Balthazar Getty. But several years later, Getty became paralyzed and partially blind after a drug overdose. He has been in a wheelchair and unable to speak ever since. He died Saturday at his home near London.
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Tags: britain, calabrian, german, getty, grandfather, italian, kidnapping, life, money, ransom, words