The captors of American journalist James Foley originally demanded a ransom of 100 million euros ($132.5 million), the chief executive of a news website he worked for told The Wall Street Journal.

Philip Balboni, the president and chief executive of GlobalPost, told the newspaper that the sum was demanded from both Foley’s family and GlobalPost.

Balboni declined to discuss their reply to the demand, saying all communication was shared with appropriate government authorities, The Journal reported Thursday.