The Getty family, which was famous for its oil wealth and eccentric feelings, now enters the public eye once every ten years, and usually because of a tragic event. The history of founder Paul Getty's crowning of the world's richest man is indeed twofold: on the one hand, laissez-faire capitalism spawned an international oil empire worth billions of dollars; on the other hand, decades of indifference to family affection , Completely destroyed the lives of several family members whose wealth is among the best in the world.
From the beginning of Paul’s fortune, it is not difficult to see the subtle relationship between him and his father George Paul. Paul, who wanted to start an oil business with only $500 in raw capital, asked his father for funding, and his father only promised to pay $100 a month in advance. Assistance, also requires a 70% profit commission from Paul. However, Paul’s luck or vision has always been good. His first oil real estate from leasing to transfer only took 2 weeks to get a profit of 12,000 US dollars. Of course, the reason for the rapid transfer was indeed because his stingy father could not provide enough. Funds are maintained. With the first pot of gold, Paul discovered that he already had a fortune of $1 million in just five months.
By the 1830s, when Paul's father died, he did not get any inheritance, which paved the way for him to deal with the crisis facing the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, the stock price of the oil company he controlled plummeted, and it was difficult to maintain all his deposits, and he was finally saved with the support of his mother.
In the 1950s, the overall oil situation began to shift to the Middle East. The weak Paul was unable to contend with the seven major oil empires that had already formed. He had to bet on a cheap wasteland in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which is not worthy of anyone. He did not produce a drop in four years of mining. With high-quality oil, the company is facing a crisis again, and Getty is also becoming restless, after all, he is no longer young. However, in the fifth year, the time finally came around, and oil-bearing sands were discovered on this unpopular land, and then oil began to be sprayed outwards. This discovery completely reversed Getty's fate. In just one month, Getty's stock doubled. The discovery of this super oil field with a capacity of 1.3 trillion barrels made Paul Getty the richest man in the world with $3 billion in assets three years later.
However, it can be said that if the Getty family's fortune is tortuous and difficult, then his family relationship history can be said to be disastrous, and people are more willing to dig and talk about it.
Paul Getty is notoriously rich, and he is notoriously stingy. His personal life often spreads the miser-style thriftiness. In an apartment building in London, in order to save phone bills, he removed all the external telephones in the building, but installed a coin-operated telephone in the lobby on the first floor. He also installed a lock because he repeatedly complained about secret calls from the workers at home. Many of his friends realized after eating at his home that they had to insert coins to borrow his home phone. No matter what the occasion, he only pays his own share every time he goes to dinner. He even didn't want to pay for dinner with his lover. He claimed to leave an inheritance to his 100 lovers. However, after his death, his blooming lovers fiercely complained to the media for the insulting dismissal. This is not uncommon. Even the priest prayed at his funeral to complain that his wages had not been paid. This ceremony was considered free.
Perhaps due to the repression of this character, his children rarely have happiness. His eldest son George Paul was optimistic about him at first, but because of disguised encouragement, he took poison and committed suicide at a young age.
The task of inheritance fell to the second son, Getty II, who may have been spoiled because of the suicide of the eldest son. Getty II was addicted to drugs for a long time, and his first wife even died of drug overdose.
However, bigger things are still to come. The second wife’s child, Getty III, has been debauched to the point where no one can control him. He went into the underground society of Italy and was eventually kidnapped by Calabrian bandits, the kidnappers and his mother. Asking for a ransom of 17 million US dollars, the police and the media initially thought it was a prank by the rich three generations to defraud pocket money. After being confirmed, the elderly Paul Getty insisted on his usual stingy claims and refused to pay the ransom. During the protracted negotiations, poor Getty III had his ears cut off and sent him to his grandfather. Getty finally succumbed and bargained for $3.2 million in exchange for his waste material grandson, and only 2.2 million of this money was paid voluntarily, and the other 1 million needed to be repaid by his son afterwards and paid interest. The redeemed grandson spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair taking drugs. It is said that after being redeemed, his mother asked him to call his grandfather to report his safety, but Old Getty refused to answer.
After the incident, Getty II hated this kind of money-first family relationship. He moved to the UK and no longer involved in the family business.
After Getty died, he had to inherit his career to his third son, Gordon Getty. Gordon had no interest in the petroleum business at all. He was passionate about literature and movies. Ten years after the death of the old Getty, this literary son not only sold the Getty Oil Company, but also pryed open the $4 billion family trust he inherited at the expense of $1 billion in taxes. Long-term fierce lawsuits broke out for the children of the family, who were already conflicted by inheritance issues.
The Getty family showed up for the last time in 2015, when Gordon’s eldest son Andrew Getty died strangely at home, probably because of his long-term violent dispute with his girlfriend.
Born in the United States at the turn of the century, Getty has been in the business world throughout his life, becoming a recognized symbol of authoritarian wealth. However, he and his family unfortunately fell prey to the temptation of unfathomable wealth, step by step towards the degeneration and destruction of material and spirit.
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