Getty, J. Paul (1892-1976), an American business titan and philanthropist, made a huge fortune in the oil industry and was for many years one of the wealthiest people in the world. He was also a notable art collector and founded the J. Paul Getty Museum near Malibu, California, in 1953.
After graduating from Oxford University in England in 1913, he started to invest in oil wells with money borrowed from his father, a wealthy Oklahoma oilman. He made his first million dollars when he was 23 years old. After his father’s death in 1930, J. Paul became president and general manager of George F. Getty, Inc., the family oil company. From the 1930’s to the early 1950’s, the company grew dramatically under his management, particularly in the Middle East. In 1956, Getty merged this business and several of his other businesses into a new company called Getty Oil. His fortune grew in the 1960’s, as his business interests diversified into mining, agribusiness, real estate, and petrochemicals.
Getty wrote two books about art collecting, Collector’s Choice (1955) and The Joys of Collecting (1965). He also wrote History of the Oil Business of George F. and J. Paul Getty (1941), and an autobiography, As I See It (1976). Although a United States citizen, Getty spent much of his later life at his estate near London, where he died on June 6, 1976.
