![J. Paul Getty](https://files.famousbio.net/upload/peoples/26/MjUyNg-j-paul-getty.webp)
J. Paul Getty - Businessman, Timeline and Family
J. Paul Getty's Personal Details
J
Information | Detail |
---|---|
Birthday | December 15, 1892 |
Died on | June 6, 1976 |
Nationality | British, American |
Famous | Oxford University, University Of California, Berkeley, Business People, Oil Barons, Businessman |
City/State | Minnesota |
Spouses | Adolphine Helmle (m. 1928–1932), Allene Ashby (m. 1926–1928), Ann Rork (m. 1932–1935), Jeanette Dumont (m. 1923–1925), Theodora Lynch (m. 1939–1958) |
Known as | Jean Paul Getty |
Childrens | Gordon Getty, J. Ronald Getty, John Paul Getty Jr. |
Universities |
|
Notable Alumnis |
|
Founder / Co-Founder |
|
Birth Place | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S |
Born Country | United States |
Gender | Male |
Father | George Franklin Getty |
Mother | Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher |
Net Worth | $8.3 billion |
Sun Sign | Sagittarius |
Born in | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S |
Famous as | Businessman |
Died at Age | 83 |
// Famous Businessman
Guccio Gucci
Guccio Gucci was a famous fashion designer from Florence, Italy, and the founder of the world-renowned fashion brand ‘Gucci.’ Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, personal life, career, etc.
Santo Versace
Santo Domenico Versace is an Italian businessman and politician. Check out this biography to know about his birthday, childhood, family life, achievements, and fun facts about him.
Robie Uniacke
Robie Uniacke is a British businessman, who is best known as the long-time partner of English actress Rosamund Pike. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.
J. Paul Getty's photo
Who is J. Paul Getty?
Jean Paul Getty is popularly remembered as the world’s first billionaire and independent oil producer. Son of an oil merchant, George Getty, young Jean took to business at an early age. He learned the tricks of the trade while working as an unskilled labourer at his father’s oil company. No sooner, he started a business of his own, and within two years, became a millionaire. However, he did not continue in the same and went into a period of self-exile for two years to live life as a Los Angeles playboy only to return in 1919 to the oil business. He worked hard in the 1920, building his father’s company to become a self-sufficient oil company, dealing in oil drilling, transporting and selling. It was his shrewd sense of business and risk-taking capabilities that helped him double the fortune of his personal wealth and expand the company to broader horizons. His sharp business acumen led to 200 acquisitions of different oil companies of the world into Getty Oil Corporation. In 1957, he was named as the richest living American by the Fortune magazine. Nine years later, he got himself inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records by becoming the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Despite huge profits and greatly amassed wealth, he was a miser and did not indulge in philanthropic activities.
// Famous Business People
Kristina Sunshine Jung
Kristina Sunshine Jung is an American entrepreneur and actor, better known as the daughter of drug-smuggler George Jung and his ex-wife, Mirtha Jung.
Ted Turner
Ted Turner is a media tycoon who founded the cable news network CNN. This biography of Ted Turner provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.
Guccio Gucci
Guccio Gucci was a famous fashion designer from Florence, Italy, and the founder of the world-renowned fashion brand ‘Gucci.’ Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, personal life, career, etc.
Childhood & Early Life
Jean Paul Getty was born to Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher and George Getty in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, formerly a lawyer, entered the oil industry in 1903.
In 1905, the family pulled up stakes in the oil business, relocating to Los Angeles, California. Young Getty attended private school before entering the Polytechnic High School. He graduated from the same in 1909.
He then gained admission at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and University of California at Berkeley. In 1912, he transferred to the Oxford University in England to study political science and economics. He graduated from the same in 1914.
While at college, he spent the summers working at his father’s oil fields in Oklahoma as unskilled labourer. During his time therein, he learnt the trick of the trade.
Career
In 1914, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to start up as an oil producer. For the same, he took financial assistance from his father in the form of loan. He, however, operated independently from his father’s Minnehoma Oil Company.
With the financial aid from his father, he started buying and selling oil leases. He bought an oil lease in Tulsa for $500. Though his competitors thought his move to be an unwise decision, the business earned him his first huge share of profit.
By 1916, he made his first million, earning the same from the Nancy Taylor No. 1 Oil Well Site near Haskell, Oklahoma. Despite finding huge success in oil business, he retired from being an oil producer the following year to become a Los Angeles playboy.
The detour in his career did not last long as he resumed the oil business in 1919. However, by then, he had lost all the respect and admiration that his father felt for him.
He spent the better part of the 1920s working in close collaboration with his father. The duo engaged in drilling oil wells and buying and selling oil leases. He personally looked after the work in California.
It was years of hard work that he amassed fortune worth three million dollars. Furthermore, he acquired a third interest in the Getty Oil Company. After the death of his father in 1930, he inherited a mere $500,000 of the $10 million the senior Getty left at his death. Additionally, he was given the position of the president in the company.
In the new position, he worked diligently, investing his resources intelligently. He restructured the company in such a way that it operated a self-sufficient business of drilling, refining, transporting and selling oil. He then moved to make major acquisitions, starting with the Pacific West Oil Corporation and moving on to Mission Corporation.
In 1949, he gambled for a tract of barren land near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with Ibn Saud, by paying the latter $9.5 million in cash and $1 million a year for a 60-year concession. No oil was discovered for four years. However, the tables of fortune turned as in 1953, the land started producing 16,000,000 barrels a year, greatly enhancing the fortune of the company.
By the end of the 1950s decade, he got hold of the Skelly Oil and Tidewater Oil as well. In 1967, the companies merged to operate as a single unit under Getty Oil Company, thus increasing the profit of the company. His personal wealth also increased from millions to billions.
To aid his expansion in the Middle East, he learned Arabic language. His ever expanding business helped him earn a controlling interest in more than 200 business including Getty Oil Corporation. His personal wealth doubled from $2 billion to $4 billion
In addition to oil business, he ventured into the hotel business as well. He made several successful real estate investments in hotel industry, including the Pierre Hotel in New York City.
In 1959, he purchased the Sutton Place, which was spread over 1500 acres and encompassed 72 rooms. The country house, which once belonged to the Duke of Sutherland, became the centre of Getty Oil and his associated companies.
Apart from business, he was an avid art collector. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953. The trust operates the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California which is home to some of the world exquisite art collection worth $2.7 billion
Personal Life & Legacy
He married five times in his life. The first was with Jeanette Demont in 1923. The following year, they were blessed with a baby boy. Only three years after their marriage, the couple separated legally.
In 1926, he married Allene Ashby. The marriage did not last long and the two parted ways in 1928. The same year, he married Adolphine Helmle with whom he had a son. The marriage hit the rocks in 1932.
Ann Rork was the fourth wife with whom he went into the wedlock in 1932. They were blessed with two sons. However, much like his previous nuptials, this too did not last long and ended in 1936.
His last wedded wife was Louise Dudley Teddy Lynch. The two married in 1939 and divorced in 1958. They had a son who died the same year the two legally separated.
He spent the later part of his life living in British Isles. He breathed his last on June 6, 1976 due to heart failure.
Trivia
This billionaire and owner of an Oil Corporations was an absolute miser and frugal spender. He resisted spending money and in fact bargained for the ransom when his grandson was kidnapped.
// Famous Oil Barons
Arkadiy Abramovich
Arkadiy Abramovich is a Russian entrepreneur. He is the son of big Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich. Let’s take a look at his family, personal life, net worth, achievements, and some fun facts.
Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich is a Russian businessman, investor and a politician, who happens to be one of the richest men in the world. Let’s take a look at his family, personal life, net worth, achievements, and some fun facts.
Dhirubhai Ambani
Dhirubhai Ambani was an Indian entrepreneur who founded Reliance Industries Limited and made it one the largest private sector comapnies in India. Know more about his childhood, life, works and achievements in this biography.
J. Paul Getty biography timelines
- // 15th Dec 1892Jean Paul Getty was born to Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher and George Getty in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, formerly a lawyer, entered the oil industry in 1903.
- // 1905 To 1909In 1905, the family pulled up stakes in the oil business, relocating to Los Angeles, California. Young Getty attended private school before entering the Polytechnic High School. He graduated from the same in 1909.
- // 1912 To 1914He then gained admission at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and University of California at Berkeley. In 1912, he transferred to the Oxford University in England to study political science and economics. He graduated from the same in 1914.
- // 1914In 1914, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to start up as an oil producer. For the same, he took financial assistance from his father in the form of loan. He, however, operated independently from his father’s Minnehoma Oil Company.
- // 1916 To 1917By 1916, he made his first million, earning the same from the Nancy Taylor No. 1 Oil Well Site near Haskell, Oklahoma. Despite finding huge success in oil business, he retired from being an oil producer the following year to become a Los Angeles playboy.
- // 1919The detour in his career did not last long as he resumed the oil business in 1919. However, by then, he had lost all the respect and admiration that his father felt for him.
- // 1920He spent the better part of the 1920s working in close collaboration with his father. The duo engaged in drilling oil wells and buying and selling oil leases. He personally looked after the work in California.
- // 1923He married five times in his life. The first was with Jeanette Demont in 1923. The following year, they were blessed with a baby boy. Only three years after their marriage, the couple separated legally.
- // 1926 To 1932In 1926, he married Allene Ashby. The marriage did not last long and the two parted ways in 1928. The same year, he married Adolphine Helmle with whom he had a son. The marriage hit the rocks in 1932.
- // 1930It was years of hard work that he amassed fortune worth three million dollars. Furthermore, he acquired a third interest in the Getty Oil Company. After the death of his father in 1930, he inherited a mere $500,000 of the $10 million the senior Getty left at his death. Additionally, he was given the position of the president in the company.
- // 1932 To 1936Ann Rork was the fourth wife with whom he went into the wedlock in 1932. They were blessed with two sons. However, much like his previous nuptials, this too did not last long and ended in 1936.
- // 1939 To 1958His last wedded wife was Louise Dudley Teddy Lynch. The two married in 1939 and divorced in 1958. They had a son who died the same year the two legally separated.
- // 1949In 1949, he gambled for a tract of barren land near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with Ibn Saud, by paying the latter $9.5 million in cash and $1 million a year for a 60-year concession. No oil was discovered for four years. However, the tables of fortune turned as in 1953, the land started producing 16,000,000 barrels a year, greatly enhancing the fortune of the company.
- // 1953Apart from business, he was an avid art collector. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953. The trust operates the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California which is home to some of the world exquisite art collection worth $2.7 billion
- // 1959In 1959, he purchased the Sutton Place, which was spread over 1500 acres and encompassed 72 rooms. The country house, which once belonged to the Duke of Sutherland, became the centre of Getty Oil and his associated companies.
- // 1960 To 1967By the end of the 1950s decade, he got hold of the Skelly Oil and Tidewater Oil as well. In 1967, the companies merged to operate as a single unit under Getty Oil Company, thus increasing the profit of the company. His personal wealth also increased from millions to billions.
- // 6th Jun 1976He spent the later part of his life living in British Isles. He breathed his last on June 6, 1976 due to heart failure.
// Famous Oxford University
Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch is a renowned Australian business magnate famous for his establishment, ‘News Corporation’ in the US. Read on for detailed information about his childhood, profile, career and timeline
John Donne
John Donne was a famous English poet, satirist, lawyer and priest of his time. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and other facts related to his life.
Michael York
Michael York is a famous English actor who has enjoyed a busy and varied career in both, television and film. Explore this biography to learn more about his profile, childhood, life and timeline.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson is a British actress and model, best-known for her role as ‘Hermione Granger’ in the Harry Potter series. Explore this biography to learn more about her profile, childhood, life and timeline.
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall is an English Animal Rights activist, famously dubbed as “The Woman who redefined man”. This biography of Jane Goodall provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.
Rowan Douglas Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. This article traces his childhood, life achievements, works & timeline.
J. Paul Getty's FAQ
What is J. Paul Getty birthday?
J. Paul Getty was born at 1892-12-15
When was J. Paul Getty died?
J. Paul Getty was died at 1976-06-06
Where was J. Paul Getty died?
J. Paul Getty was died in Guildford
Which age was J. Paul Getty died?
J. Paul Getty was died at age 83
Where is J. Paul Getty's birth place?
J. Paul Getty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S
What is J. Paul Getty nationalities?
J. Paul Getty's nationalities is British, American
Who is J. Paul Getty spouses?
J. Paul Getty's spouses is Adolphine Helmle (m. 1928–1932), Allene Ashby (m. 1926–1928), Ann Rork (m. 1932–1935), Jeanette Dumont (m. 1923–1925), Theodora Lynch (m. 1939–1958)
Who is J. Paul Getty childrens?
J. Paul Getty's childrens is Gordon Getty, J. Ronald Getty, John Paul Getty Jr.
What was J. Paul Getty universities?
J. Paul Getty studied at Oxford University,University Of California, Berkeley, Magdalen College, Oxford, University of Southern California, University of Oxford
What was J. Paul Getty notable alumnis?
J. Paul Getty's notable alumnis is Oxford University, University Of California, Berkeley
Which company or organization was founded by J. Paul Getty?
J. Paul Getty was the founder/co-founder of Getty Oil Company
Who is J. Paul Getty's father?
J. Paul Getty's father is George Franklin Getty
Who is J. Paul Getty's mother?
J. Paul Getty's mother is Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher
What is J. Paul Getty's sun sign?
J. Paul Getty is Sagittarius
How famous is J. Paul Getty?
J. Paul Getty is famouse as Businessman