Billions, miserliness, and a severed ear! This episode of History's Greatest Idiots (featuring The Hungry Historian) explores the extraordinary life of Jean Paul Getty, the oil tycoon who became the richest man in the world, installed a payphone in his mansion for guests, and refused to pay ransom whilst his kidnapped grandson's ear was being cut off.
The Golden Child Who Disappointed Daddy:
Born in 1892 to oilman George Franklin Getty, young J. Paul made his first million at age 23, then quit to party in Hollywood dating film stars including the Gish sisters, Norma Talmadge, and Gloria Swanson.
He married and divorced three women within a decade. His father was appalled. When George Getty died in 1930, he left an estate worth $10 million. J. Paul inherited just $500,000. His mother received the rest. It was a pointed snub that would define Getty's entire life.
The Great Depression Bargain Hunter:
Determined to prove his father wrong, Getty bought up distressed oil company stocks during the Depression. He boasted to an acquaintance: "I just fleeced my mother" after persuading her to give him control of her trust fund. In 1949, he gambled $9.5 million on mineral rights to a barren Saudi Arabian desert called the Neutral Zone. Other oil companies thought he was mad.
In 1953, oil was discovered. The field produced 16 million barrels yearly. By 1966, Getty was the world's wealthiest private citizen, worth $1.2 billion (approximately $70 billion in today's purchasing power).
The Miser of Sutton Place:
Getty settled at Sutton Place, a Tudor estate near Guildford. He filled it with priceless art, then installed a payphone in the entrance hall because he worried guests might make long-distance calls.
He haggled over garden barrows. He reused string. He was married and divorced five times, had five sons, and was a terrible father. His son George Getty II died from a drug and alcohol-induced stroke. His son J. Paul Getty Jr. became a heroin addict.
The Kidnapping:
On 10th July 1973, 16-year-old John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome by the 'Ndrangheta crime organization. They demanded $17 million. Getty refused to pay, suspecting his grandson was faking it.
For months, Paul was held in a cave, blindfolded and beaten. In November 1973, kidnappers sent Paul's severed ear to an Italian newspaper with a letter: "This is Paul's first ear. If within ten days the family still believes this is a joke, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits."
Only then did Getty negotiate. He agreed to pay $2.2 million (the maximum tax-deductible amount under U.S. law). He then lent the remaining $800,000 to his son at four percent interest.
Getty wrote off his portion as a tax deduction. When Paul was rescued, Getty refused to come to the phone. Paul never recovered, suffering a stroke in 1981 that left him paralyzed and nearly blind for 36 years until his death in 2011.
Getty proved you could have all the money in the world and still be absolutely miserable whilst making everyone around you miserable too.
He died wealthy and alone, having haggled over his grandson's ear, installed payphones for guests, and left behind a company that charges fees for photographs it doesn't own.
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Artist: Sarah Chey
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