A Pakistani intelligence guy tipped the US off for the reward. Neither torture nor diligent work by NSA or CIA was responsible for locating Bin Laden. That wouldn&#x27;t make a very good movie though.<p>From Wikipedia:
<i>In August 2010, a former Pakistani intelligence officer approached the U.S. embassy station chief in Islamabad and offered to provide Bin Laden&#x27;s location, in return for the $25 million reward, according to a retired senior U.S. intelligence official.[17] This story was corroborated by two U.S. intelligence officials speaking to NBC news, and had been previously reported by intelligence analyst Raelynn Hillhouse.[18][19] The Pakistani official informed U.S. intelligence that Bin Laden had been located by Pakistani ISI in 2006, and held under house arrest near Pakistani intelligence and military centers ever since. The official passed polygraph tests, after which the U.S. began local and satellite surveillance of Bin Laden&#x27;s Abbottabad residence.[17]</i>