This man was already born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But he made his fortune on his own. He disliked people and loved art. He will be called the richest man on the planet. His frugality will be legendary. The whole world will condemn him, but he will not pay attention to it. We are talking about the oil tycoon Paul Getty, who entered the history of the 20th century as the most stingy billionaire.
Book childhood
The second long-awaited child was born in the family of businessman John Getty in 1892 - it was a boy. They named him Paul. There was no end to the joy of the parents, but exorbitant fear was mixed with it. A few years earlier, he and his wife had already lost their little daughter, who died in infancy. They might not have survived the second tragedy, so instead of love, they mostly protected the baby from hypothetical dangers and worried about every little thing. The emotional detachment of the parents was also dictated by the fear of pain due to strong attachment.
Despite the overprotection fromthe side of his parents, the boy spent most of his time alone reading books. He will shine with the information received in front of teachers and students, but this will not make Paul Getty popular among his peers. The father will demonstrate the absence of at least some understanding of his child by the decision to send Paul to study at a military school. The boy had neither a craving for such activities, nor personal qualities. He was more attracted to literature, painting, sculpture. Naturally, the idea to make a "real" man out of his son failed miserably.
Europe forever
The child, on whom many hopes were placed, every year more and more disappointed his parents. John and Sarah Getty were religious people and expected that their son would also be an exemplary Christian and a student at a prestigious university, but instead, at the age of 17, he would leave the university and go all out. The rampant lifestyle of Paul Getty more and more often provoked parental anger and led to a big scandal, but the situation changed after one significant trip.
In 1909, the elder Getty took his first vacation and went on a trip to Europe with his family. Old Europe made an indelible impression on Paul. At the end of the trip, he told his parents that he was going to study at Oxford, which pleased them a lot. In 1913 he received a diploma in economics and political science. The father, seeing that his son has taken the right path, finances Paul's life and donates shares of his oil company, Minneoma Oil. But young Getty again disappoints his father with hisbehavior: after graduation, he goes on a tour of his beloved Europe. The father considered this idea stupid, and in anger deprived his son of financial support, took away the shares.
I will never forgive you for this
The whole further life of Paul Getty is an attempt to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of his father. He would join his company, and many of Getty Jr.'s business ideas would double the capital and expand his father's business. Already at a young age, Paul will earn his first million. But the joy of the parent will be overshadowed by the unchristian behavior of the offspring. Paul Getty was an incorrigible womanizer and goofy. Even marriage to Jeanette Demont and the birth of a son did not give the desired result: Paul remained true to his bad habits.
In 1930, John Getty died, and the last will was inexorable. Several million went to his wife, 350 thousand went to his grandson, and only 250 thousand to his son. But the biggest blow for Paul was the complete distrust of his father, because he left the management of his company not to him, but to the board of directors. Resentment will sink deep into Paul's heart: he thought that his father appreciates him as a businessman, but the will denied such an assumption. This attitude of Getty Sr. will force Paul to strive for fabulous we alth. He will want to surpass his father.
Love for life
Paul Getty's biography is a constant increase in his we alth. Everyone will know about his stinginess. His stinginess will surprise and disgust, some will say that thanks to greed he was able to save his money. But it's different. Money was not a means of satisfaction for a millionairehis desires, they were something more to him. They became his passion, love for life. The desire to prove his superiority by becoming the richest man in America in the middle of the 20th century led to a pathological attachment to his condition. And no one wants to part with their loved ones, especially to give them to someone.
Paul Getty will make his fortune thanks to the generosity of his mother, who will give half of her money to her son's business projects. He will be very enterprising. He will be called a pioneer - the man who first began to develop oil fields in the Middle East. His company Getty Oil will settle in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. By the end of his life, his empire will have more than 200 enterprises: oil producing and oil refineries, an aircraft construction plant, etc. Getty's fortune by the end of his life amounted to about $6 billion (in 2017 prices - more than $25 billion).
Weaknesses of a billionaire
Paul's second passion after money was women. He had 5 official marriages, in which five sons were born, one of them died of cancer at the age of 12, and 14 grandchildren. More than a hundred mistresses and countless ladies for one night. To be always in shape, he will always paint over his gray hair in a brown-red color and will do 5 plastic surgeries. The latest surgery will turn the tycoon's face into a crooked mask.
Another attachment will be works of art. He will buy them all over the world:paintings, sculptures, carpets, furniture and tapestries - everything that was of historical and cultural value. At the end of his life, he will take out his treasure from the storerooms and open a museum that will be called simply the Getty Museum.
Black and white
Greed, stinginess, frugality and frugality - these feelings balance on a scale of good - bad. Greed and stinginess are bad, but frugality and frugality are good. However, there is a very thin line between these opposites. When does frugality become stinginess, when does economy become greed? Everyone who knew Getty was surprised how contradictions could coexist in one person.
On the one hand, he washed his own clothes every day, wrote the answers in the margins of letters and, if possible, sent them in the same envelopes. As for the children and grandchildren, the billionaire never spoiled them with a luxurious life. In his castle in England, he installed a pay phone after he saw the huge bills for international calls. Numerous guests spoke on the phone without embarrassment, after which they had to pay their own bills.
On the other hand, he invested a lot of money in business development, spent on the acquisition of works of art, on the organization of parties and on the opening of a museum, which will be free to enter. In addition, he was discouraged by the case when he bought a photograph for a lot of money: in the photo, Paul Getty and the king of Saudi Arabia sign a cooperation agreement. He was disliked and envied, he was criticized and theyadmired. He was an extraordinary person and evoked complex feelings in those around him. But in his later years, an event will occur that will ruin his reputation completely, sticking to him the label of “the most greedy millionaire.”
Kidnapping of grandson
Paul Getty treated ex-wives, children and grandchildren more than cool. He considered his loved ones worthless and incapable. The sons were always at enmity with each other for the mercy of their father, who periodically brought one or the other closer to him. The rivalry and craving of the head of the family for the appointment of another favorite contributed to the establishment of tense and hostile relations between members of the Getty clan.
July 10, 1973 in Rome, gangsters attack Paul Getty's seventeen-year-old drunk grandson John Paul Getty III, wringing his hands. He tries to resist, but gets hit on the head, after which the guy falls into oblivion. They put him in a car and take him away in an unknown direction. When Paul Getty III woke up, the kidnappers forced him to write letters to his relatives asking for help. Father, mother and grandfather received such letters. After that, the criminals called the mother and announced the ransom amount of $17 million.
Precedent
No one is in a hurry to run to the rescue of a slave. The fact is that the young man led a dissolute lifestyle: drugs, alcohol, nightlife, etc., and, accordingly, was out of favor with his grandfather. The first thing the relatives thought was that the grandson planned the kidnapping himself in order to extract money from his grandfather for a wild life. And they were not particularly worried: he would sit out, and he would return. In addition, the billionaire will tell the press that he does not want to set a precedent: if he pays for one, then the rest of his grandchildren will be kidnapped tomorrow. So he explained his unwillingness to be led by the bandits by caring for other family members.
Thus four months passed. During this time, the mother and father of the kidnapped are trying in various ways to persuade the elder Paul Getty to give money: they turned to influential friends of the billionaire for help to influence him. But the oil tycoon remained adamant. Out of impotence and anger, the guy's mother turned to the newspapers, where she slandered her former father-in-law, setting the public against him.
The last straw
In November 1973, the story of Paul Getty's grandson becomes serious: a package arrives at the editorial office of one of the Roman newspapers, in which the editorial staff finds a severed ear and a cover letter. In it, the kidnappers spoke of their most serious intentions to send the guy in pieces if there was no ransom in the near future. Under the pressure of terrible events, Paul Getty agrees to give money, but not the amount that the kidnappers announced.
The period of negotiations began, the ransom amount was brought down to 3 million. But even here, the stingy knight remained true to himself: he gave 2.2 million dollars - the maximum that is not taxed, and 800 thousand he loaned to his son at 4% per annum. That's what his father did to him, and that's what he did to his son. In December 1973, the billionaire's grandson was released, five months afterkidnappings.
Dry residue
The story of Paul Getty is full of drama. His billions did not make him or his family happy. The rich miser died on June 6, 1976 from prostate cancer. He left behind a will with a surprise, as his father once did: he bequeathed $ 1 billion to the Getty Museum. Wives received money and shares, children received little things, and some grandchildren were disinherited, such as the kidnapped Paul Getty Jr. His fate is sad: from an overdose of drugs, he will have a stroke, after which he will remain disabled for life. Will die in 2011. In 1986, Getty Oil was sold to a competing firm. So Paul Getty's empire ceased to exist.
