Quick
Facts
- NAME: J. Paul Getty
- OCCUPATION: Art Collector, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
- BIRTH DATE: December 15, 1892
- DEATH DATE: June 06, 1976
- EDUCATION: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, University of California, Berkeley, Oxford University, Polytechnic High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- PLACE OF DEATH: Sutton Place, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
- Full Name: Jean Paul Getty
- AKA: J. Paul Getty
- AKA: Jean Getty
- AKA: Paul Getty
Best
Known For
Billionaire businessman J. Paul
Getty became president of the Getty Oil Company after his father George Getty’s
death. His Getty Foundation funds the J. Paul Getty Museum and other artist
endeavors.
J. Paul Getty biography
Synopsis
J. Paul Getty was born on December
15, 1892, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1914, Getty began brokering oil leases
for his father. In 1916, he established his first successful oil well in
Oklahoma. In the 1920s, he drilled in California and continued to amass his
fortune. When his father, George Getty, died in 1930, he became president of
the Getty Oil Company. In 1967, after gaining control of multiple oil
interests, he merged them into the Getty Oil Company, serving as its president
until his death on June 6, 1976, in Surrey, England. Getty died one of the
wealthiest people in America.
Early
Years
J. Paul Getty was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 15, 1892. In 1903, his father, former
attorney George Franklin Getty, entered the oil industry. The following year,
George, J. Paul and J. Paul's mother, Sarah Risher Getty, moved to Oklahoma. In
1905, the family pulled up stakes again, and relocated to Los Angeles,
California, where J. Paul was raised.
J. Paul Getty graduated from Los
Angeles' Polytechnic High School in 1909. He spent the next couple of years
attending the University of Southern California at Los Angeles and the
University of California at Berkley, and then transferred to Oxford University
in London. In 1914, Getty graduated from Oxford with a degree in politic
science and economics.
Oil
Empire
Following graduation, J. Paul Getty
returned to California and began working as a wildcatter, buying and selling
oil leases for his father. By 1916, the younger Getty had made millions on his
first successful well. He retired and lived the life of a playboy for two years
before going back into the oil business in 1919. Throughout the 1920s, he and
his father continued to amass wealth through drilling and lease brokering.
George gained the confidence in his son to grant him a third of his company's
interest. When George passed away in 1930, J. Paul received a $500,000
inheritance and became the company's president.
In his new position, Getty set out
to restructure and expand the company into a self-sufficient business—one that
did everything from drill to refine, transport and sell oil. In that vein, he
started taking over other oil companies. By the 1950s, he had gained control of
Skelly Oil, Tidewater Oil and Mission Corporation. The companies merged into
the Getty Oil Company in 1967. Getty would serve as the company's president for
the rest of his life, building a personal fortune of roughly $4 billion in the
process. In addition to his work in the oil business, Getty made several
successful real-estate investments in the hotel industry, including the Pierre
Hotel in New York City.
Personal
Life
Getty married and divorced five
times. His first marriage, which took place in 1923, was to Jeannette Dumont.
Dumont gave him his first child, George Franklin Getty II. In 1925, he married
Allene Ashby, and then wed Adolphine Helme in 1928. His marriage to Helm
resulted in a second son, Jean Ronald. In 1932, Getty married starlet Ann Rork.
The couple had two more sons: Eugene
Paul and Gordon Peter. Getty's fifth wife was singer Louise Lynch; the couple
married in 1930 and divorced in 1958. Getty's son with Lynch, Timothy,
tragically died at age 12.
Death
and Legacy
J. Paul Getty died of heart failure
on June 6, 1976, at his mansion in Surrey, England. His expansive art
collection is displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Upon his
death, Getty bequeathed $1.2 billion to his charitable trust, the Getty
Foundation, to be used toward endowment of the arts.
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