Jean Paul Getty – American industrialist

Jean Paul Getty became a millionaire when he was only 24. His father was wealthy, but he did not help his son. Getty made his millions alone. Like his father, he made his money from oil. He owned Getty Oil and over 200 other companies. In 1957 Fortune magazine published a list of the richest men in America. Getty’s name headed the list.
Jean Paul was born on December 15, 1892 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, George Franklin Getty, was a lawyer. In 1906 the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where young Getty attended private school. Getty attended the University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1914 he graduated from Oxford University in England, where he received a degree in economics and political science.
In 1916, he had made his first million dollars as a wildcatter and lease broker.

After the Second World War, Paul moved to the UK at the Manor Sutton Place in Surrey. His house was surrounded by a fortified wall and guarded by an entire army and security service with twenty dogs specially trained to protect people.

Getty was married five times: to Jeannette Dumont (1923), Allene Ashby (1925), Adolphine Helmle (1928), Ann Rork (1932), and Louisa Lynch (1939); each marriage ended in divorce. He had five sons, two of whom predeceased him, and his relationship with each of them was difficult.
He was a very stingy man. Every evening, he wrote down every cent he spent that day.
In 1973, kidnappers took his grandson. They asked for money to release the boy. Getty’s son asked his father for money to save his child. Getty refused. So the kidnappers cut off the boy’s ear. Finally, Getty lent the money to his son, but at 4 percent interest.
His grandson Mark Getty founded Getty Images.
His great-grandson Balthazar Getty is known for his role in David Lynch’s Lost Highway.

Jean Paul Getty – American industrialist

Getty loved to collect art. He started a museum at his home in Malibu, California. He bought many important and beautiful pieces of art for the museum. He began serious collecting in the 1930s—European paintings, furniture, Greek and Roman sculptures, 18th-century tapestries, silver, and fine Persian carpets, including the 16th-century Ardabil carpet from Tabriz. After his death he left all his money to the museum. Today it is one of the most important museums in the United States. Getty made his money from oil. But he gave his money to the art world because he wanted people to learn about and love art.
Jean Paul Getty died on June 6, 1976.
On the day of his death one of the news program presenters on the BBC channel said: “The richest, the most lonely and most selfish person in the world died.”