The weird world of kidnapping insurance

Kidnapping, both by criminal enterprises and terrorist groups, has waxed and waned many times across the world. To this day, the biggest confirmed ransom ever paid was $275 million (in today's dollars), to leftist guerillas in Argentina in 1975, for the release of Jorge Born, one of the executives at the grain exporter Bunge & Born. The payment was noteworthy for several other reasons. First, like any good businessman, Born participated in the negotiations himself. And the haggling...