In 1978 Baron Edouard-Jean Empain, then head of the Schneider Group, was seized at gunpoint from his chauffeur-driven car near his home in Paris.

He was held for 63 days, chained in darkness, starved, and beaten.
The case grabbed attention when the kidnappers cut off his fingertip and threatened further mutilation unless his family paid a huge ransom.

Baron Empain was 40 at the time, and one of France's leading captains of industry. His Schneider group comprised some 300 companies and employed 150,000 people worldwide.

He was the grandson of Edouard Empain, who had been ennobled by the King of the Belgians after building an industrial empire in the late 19th Century.

During the investigation, police had to delve into his private life to look for possible clues. As a result, his infidelities and gambling sprees became widely known. Public sympathy for him was limited and his wife divorced him shortly after his release.

Empain was left bitter, feeling people had turned against him. He eventually withdrew from business life.

The story of Baron Empain inspired us for the online exhibition 'Rien Ne Va Plus' on games and gambles.