J[ean] Paul Getty
(1892–1976)

J. Paul GettyAnecdote...

A newspaper reporter once asked Getty if it were true that the value of his holdings, at that time, amounted to a billion dollars. Getty was silent for a minute or two. "I suppose so," he replied thoughtfully. "But remember, a billion dollars doesn't go as far as it used to."


Quote-worthy...

Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. —J. Paul Getty


Biographical Note...

Oil billionaire and art collector, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Oxford, entered the oil business in his early twenties, and made a quarter of a million dollars in his first two years. His father (also a successful oil man) died in 1930, leaving him $15 million. He merged his father's interests with his own, and went on to acquire and control more than 100 companies, becoming one of the world's richest men. His personal wealth was estimated in 1968 at over one billion dollars, and he acquired a huge and extremely valuable art collection. Known for his eccentricity, he was married and divorced five times, and developed a legendary reputation for miserliness, installing a pay-telephone for guests in his English mansion.


More Information...

READ some interesting quotes by J. Paul Getty. Or check out this reflection on Getty's legacy to the art world.