J. Paul Getty

J. Paul Getty - Businessman, Timeline and Family

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J. Paul Getty Biography Stories 

J. Paul Getty's Personal Details

J

InformationDetail
BirthdayDecember 15, 1892
Died onJune 6, 1976
NationalityBritish, American
FamousOxford University, University Of California, Berkeley, Business People, Oil Barons, Businessman
City/StateMinnesota
SpousesAdolphine 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 asJean Paul Getty
ChildrensGordon Getty, J. Ronald Getty, John Paul Getty Jr.
Universities
  • Oxford University,University Of California, Berkeley
  • Magdalen College
  • Oxford
  • University of Southern California
  • University of Oxford
Notable Alumnis
  • Oxford University
  • University Of California
  • Berkeley
Founder / Co-Founder
  • Getty Oil Company
Birth PlaceMinneapolis, Minnesota, U.S
Born CountryUnited States
GenderMale
FatherGeorge Franklin Getty
MotherSarah Catherine McPherson Risher
Net Worth$8.3 billion
Sun SignSagittarius
Born inMinneapolis, Minnesota, U.S
Famous asBusinessman
Died at Age83

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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.

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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.

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J. Paul Getty biography timelines

  • // 15th Dec 1892
    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.
  • // 1905 To 1909
    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.
  • // 1912 To 1914
    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.
  • // 1914
    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.
  • // 1916 To 1917
    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.
  • // 1919
    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.
  • // 1920
    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.
  • // 1923
    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.
  • // 1926 To 1932
    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.
  • // 1930
    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.
  • // 1932 To 1936
    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.
  • // 1939 To 1958
    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.
  • // 1949
    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.
  • // 1953
    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
  • // 1959
    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.
  • // 1960 To 1967
    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.
  • // 6th Jun 1976
    He spent the later part of his life living in British Isles. He breathed his last on June 6, 1976 due to heart failure.

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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