Normally associated with the massive stock photo website in 2024, the Getty name carries with it the weight of incredible wealth built upon an oil empire and the infamy of a myriad of tragedies that have followed the family through generations. From the birth of its fortune to the present state of affairs, the Gettys’ story is marked by both unimaginable success and soul-shattering sorrow.
John Paul Getty, born in 1892, was the architect of the Getty fortune, constructing a fortune so vast from oil that he became known as the richest person on the planet in his lifetime. Getty began his foray into the oil industry early, witnessing his father’s initial highly remunerative endeavors in the business. The personality that would define him, including his world-famous stinginess and his unending pursuit of riches, would be the basics to the elaborate master-plan of his empire-building.
His early oil ventures bore great fruit, as he took risks that others found too risky, such as his investment in the Saudi Arabian desert, which proved to literally be a gushing source of wealth that propelled him into the financial stratosphere. However, Getty’s love life existed in stark contrast to his career, in what was perhaps a universal balancing act that ensured he couldn’t have it all. Married and divorced five times, his romantic engagements and familial relationships were strained, disordered and emotionally charged, ultimately establishing a legacy fraught with long-standing grudges and discord.
Getty became increasingly reclusive in the later stages of his life, as his love for wealth became matched only by his infamy for being a penny-pinching billionaire who reportedly installed payphones at his Sutton Place mansion for guests. Residing in abject opulence did little to change Getty’s work ethic, who clocked in up to 18 hours a day across his global business. His dedication saw a massive payoff during the oil crisis of the early 1970s brought about by the Egyptian-Israeli Yom Kippur War, skyrocketing his personal income to over $25 million in 1975, roughly $145 million today.
A less-discussed aspect of Getty’s life was his close friendship with Penelope Kitson – an otherwise unremarkable interior designer. Although their relationship was platonic, she enjoyed a special status in his life, living in a cottage on his Sutton Place estate. Getty’s romantic life was vibrant and decadent even into his elderly years, aided by an array of vitamins and innovative sexual performance-enhancing drugs, such as H3. Perhaps even more perverse was his hobby in frequently redrafting his will, often changing the amounts left to his various acquaintances, which seemed inhumanely small and random. The New York Times highlighted his strange obsession, noting how these changes could come in a monthly stipend as measly as $209 or as modest as $1,167.
He passed away on 6 June 1976 at the age of 83, on his estate in Surrey, England, leaving behind a legacy of unimaginable wealth and a private life riddled with public scandal. In his controversial will, he bequeathed $4 million to his fifth wife, Teddy Getty Gaston, and nearly $500 million to the J. Paul Getty Museum. The rest of his fortune was divided amongst his sons and the Getty Foundation, which supports the fields of the arts, humanities, and environmental sciences.
Getty’s passing marked the beginning of a new chapter for the family, in great part because the wealth he left behind was divided in such an unconventional manner that his four ex-wives and five sons began to turn on one another. His grandsons would come to embody the so-called curse of the Getty family, with John Paul Getty III famously kidnapped in Rome on 10 July 1973. The 16-year-old was held by the ‘Ndrangheta – an Italian mafia family which demanded a $17 million ransom for his safe return. His billionaire grandfather was infamously reluctant to pay, believing it could set a dangerous precedent for his other family members. This refusal even continued after the kidnappers mailed a lock of hair and John Paul III’s severed right ear to an Italian newspaper four months after the fact.
The police searched diligently for the full five months of the grandson’s captivity, but the experienced criminals had him moved to different locations every so often within the Calabrian mountains. His mother, Gail Harris, campaigned tirelessly for his release, and his father, John Paul Getty Jr., negotiated with both the kidnappers and his apathetic father for terms. The ransom was ultimately negotiated down to $3 million, of which the mogul agreed to pay $2.2 million – the maximum that would be tax-deductible, with the remaining $800,000 controversially loaned to his son at a 4% interest rate.
John Paul Getty III was finally released on 15 December 1973 in southern Italy, but the ordeal had a lasting effect on him, contributing to a lifestyle that led to poor health and a stroke in 1981, leaving him quadriplegic and partially blind, eventually dying at the age of 54 in 2011. The kidnapping and later tribulations, including heavy overdoses and accusations of incompetence and negligence, seemed to cement the idea of this curse as Getty’s other descendants experienced the cruel combination of great affluence and personal despair.
Gordon Getty, one of his sons, attempted to assert control over the family fortune, leading to an infamous corporate takeover battle when Texaco acquired Getty Oil in the 1980s, inscribing what is known as the ugliest corporate battles of its time in the annals of history. It all began when Getty Oil was considered a ripe target for acquisition, due to its vast oil reserves and the absence of a clear successor after John Paul Getty’s death. Doing his best to represent the company, Gordon initially agreed to sell it to Pennzoil, but then went back on the deal to accept a higher offer from Texaco. This produced an extremely expensive legal battle, culminating in Pennzoil winning a $10.53 billion judgment against Texaco, effectively bankrupting them. Meanwhile, the Getty name emerged from the fiasco with a permanent stain in the business world.
In recent times the family has attempted to get back on track, with members including Mark Getty co-founding Getty Images – a key resource for photographs, videos, and music that has altered the landscape of digital media. However, despite such successful ventures, the reputation of the family remains tainted by past misfortune and missteps, as modern-day successful businessmen exercise caution at the prospect of collaborating with them.
As of mid-2024, the Gettys are embroiled in a legal dispute with a certain Marlena Sonn regarding the management of and rights to the remaining Getty wealth.
They also used trusts, such as the Pleiades Trust, comprising around a billion dollars, to pass wealth down through generations while minimising taxation. Gordon Getty, having a net worth estimated at $2.1 billion at the time, arranged the Pleiades Trust for his three daughters from an extramarital affair, aiming to hide various assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Legal proceedings unfolded in 2021, with Sonn accusing the Getty family and their advisers of engaging in tax avoidance schemes to the tune of $300 million. The Gettys countered with allegations of Sonn committing a crime by leaking confidential information that she was legally bound to keep private. It remains to be seen where the Gettys’ incessant court escapades and evolving business ideas will lead in the new age, with a great many doubting that the name can stay alive for much longer, regardless of its former immensity.