Greatest kidnap ransom - modern era

Two Hong Kong businessmen, Walter Kwok and Victor Li, paid off gangster Cheung Tze-keung, (aka 'Big Spender'), a record total of US$206 million (£131.8 million) in return for their freedom after they were kidnapped in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Cheung Tze-keung who orginally planned to kidnap the top 10 tycoons in Hong Kong, was executed on 5 Dec 1998, in China.