J. Paul Getty
| J. Paul Getty | |
|---|---|
Getty in 1944, age 55
|
|
| Born |
Jean Paul Getty December 15, 1892 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Died | June 6, 1976 (aged 83) Sutton Place, Surrey, Guildford |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Net worth | US$2 billion at the time of his death (approximately $8.4 billion inflation adjusted, equivalent to 1/893rd of US GNP in 1976) |
| Spouse(s) |
Jeanette Demont (m. 1923; div. 1926) Allene Ashby (m. 1927; div. 1928) Adolphine Helmle (m. 1928; div. 1932) Ann Rork (m. 1932; div. 1936) Louise Dudley Lynch (m. 1939; div. 1958) |
| Children | George Franklin Getty II Jean Ronald Getty Eugene Paul Getty, later John Paul Getty Jr. Gordon Peter Getty Timothy Ware Getty |
| Parent(s) |
George Franklin Getty Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher |
Jean Paul Getty (December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American, while the 1966 Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion (approximately $8.9 billion in 2016). At his death, he was worth more than $2 billion (approximately $8.4 billion in 2016). A book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th richest American who ever lived, based on his wealth as a percentage of the gross national product.
Despite his wealth, Getty was notably frugal. He famously negotiated his grandson's ransom.
Getty was an avid collector of art and antiquities; his collection formed the basis of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, and over $661 million (approximately $2.8 billion in 2016) of his estate was left to the museum after his death. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953. The trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, and operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute.
Getty was born to Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher and George Getty, who was in the petroleum business, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He enrolled at the University of Southern California, then at University of California, Berkeley. In 1913, he obtained a diploma in Economics and Political Science from the University of Oxford, having matriculated as a non-collegiate student on November 28, 1912. He spent his summers between studies working on his father's oil fields in Oklahoma. Running his own oil company in Tulsa, he made his first million by June 1916. The Nancy Taylor No. 1 Oil Well Site near Haskell, Oklahoma, was crucial to his early financial success. This oil well was the first to be drilled by J. P. Getty.
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