Biography

When he died in 1976, he left the Getty Museum in California 21% of Getty Oil stock, or approximately $700 million.

His first big break in the oil business occurred in 1915, when he purchased an interest in an oil lease on a farm south of Tulsa, Oklahoma for $500. His contemporaries thought him foolish, but 3 days after striking oil, he realized $11,850 from his share of the profits. By the age of 24, he had made his first $1 million.

In the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, he was able to purchase stocks at record low prices to continue to build his wealth. It was during the Depression that he was able to take over Tide Water Associated Oil Company, one of the 10 largest in America.

He received $200 per day from Warner Brothers to film Rebel Without a Cause (1955) at his empty Los Angeles Mansion.

In 1959, he purchased Sutton Place, a 72 room English manse on 1500 acres which was once owned by King Henry VIII. He purchased the estate from the financially struggling Duke of Sutherland for a bargain price of $140,000. Sutherland had purchased the estate for $600,000 in 1917.