The oil dynasty whose founder was once the richest American — and whose fortune built a world-class art museum.
J. Paul Getty built Getty Oil into a global enterprise and became, by the 1950s, reputedly the richest American alive. Famously frugal, he was also a voracious art collector.
He left the bulk of his fortune to what became the J. Paul Getty Trust, funding the Getty Museum and Getty Center in Los Angeles — among the wealthiest and most important art institutions in the world. The family's story also carried Gilded-Age-style drama, including a notorious 1973 kidnapping of his grandson.
The Getty name now means art as much as oil: the Getty Center and Villa draw millions of visitors and fund conservation and scholarship worldwide.
The family remains prominent in philanthropy and public life.
The Getty family is based in California. A great oil fortune transformed into one of the world's leading art institutions
1900s.
J. Paul Getty — oil magnate and art collector; once the richest American
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