The richest man in the world who refused to pay ransom to kidnappers of his own grandson

When we think of the most famous billionaires, most of the time we think of names like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, for example. One would seldom think of Jean Paul Getty, who was far from a mass phenomenon. Even if, in the second half of the 20th century, this man was the richest man in the world and owned 80% of all the oil on the planet. The oil tycoon was born into a very wealthy family, but he managed to multiply his fortune.

Getty’s parents believed that it was God’s work to give people wealth if they kept His commandments. They created the multimillion-dollar future on the basis of severity and asceticism. Due to the death of their first child, they forbade Paul to communicate with others. His mother believed that her son could contract some kind of infection. In fact, his parents weren’t even very attached to him, so as not to suffer if he died suddenly. Jean Paul Getty faithfully believed in reincarnation. There is even a story that he saw in a school book a picture of the statue of the Roman Emperor Trajan, and noticed a certain similarity between them. He later said: “I would very much like to believe that Trajan’s soul has reincarnated within my body. I will try to act the way he would.” Despite his parents’ criteria, Paul did not become a humble or religious person, as sins ruled his days. This cost him dearly, in the literal sense of the word: his father assured him only a humiliating and miserable part of the fortune and, in his will, indicated that all his property should not be passed on to his son, but to his wife.

When he graduated from the University of California, and soon afterwards from Oxford, Paul Getty decided to dedicate himself to the family business. His father started paying him a salary of 100 dollars a month. Paul was just 23 years old when he made his first million dollars. Perhaps it could have happened sooner, but Mr. Getty never wanted to lend his son money, even though he asked. His mother also refused to make large loans to him. As early as 1957, Getty topped the list of the richest people in the US, according to the fortune🇧🇷 And according to the calculations of this magazine’s analysts, Paul’s wealth was increasing by half a million dollars every day. In 1966, Jean Paul Getty was recognized in the Guinness Book (what was the current one called Guinness World Recordsthe famous Book of Records) as the richest man in the world. His wealth was valued at that time at $1.2 billion (which is more than $9.1 billion today). And here’s one of Getty’s most famous quotes: “A long relationship with a woman is only possible if you’re broke.” He was married 5 times and each wife, by age, could be his daughter. According to biographers, at least 4 of them were virgins.

The billionaire had 5 children. One of them died before turning 12, during a minor operation. Getty learned of the incident while in Europe, but refused to fly to the US for the funeral because his business matters were more pressing. In 1973, another son of the multimillionaire, whom Getty saw as his successor, died suddenly. At the same time, one of the Getty’s youngest sons faced his father in court, demanding greater financial resources for him and his siblings. Getty won the suit, but went on to give his children more money, though not by much. In the same year, a 16-year-old grandson of the billionaire was kidnapped. For 5 months he refused to pay the ransom, 17 million dollars. His position was simple. “I have 14 grandchildren, and if I pay now, the other 13 will be kidnapped.”

The billionaire’s grandson, John Paul Getty III, shortly after the ransom was paid

When the kidnappers sent Getty his grandson’s severed ear and reduced his economic claims to $3 million, the elder released the money. But he only put in $2.2 million and loaned $800,000 to his son (the kidnapped child’s father) at 4% interest per year. When the grateful grandson called his grandfather, he refused to answer. To the end of his life, he had no doubt that the kidnapping had been organized by the young man himself and his mother. This fact in the family of the multimillionaire was the basis of the movie All the money in the world. In Britain, Getty acquired the Sutton Place mansion from a bankrupt duke, and went to live there alone (not counting his bodyguards). It had 34 rooms and 14 bathrooms. He never invited any of his family members to visit him.

This is what Sutton Place Mansion looks like today

In their best years, true aristocrats lived in Sutton Place. The most famous was Mary Teissier, a distant relative of Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II. Getty enjoyed the fact that real countesses prepared dinner for him and kept him company. All these ladies signed an agreement through which they renounced any type of economic demand to the owner. And only after that were they allowed to live in the mansion. As he reached old age, the petty Getty reached his peak. He even saved stationery items: he used the same envelope several times, peeling off old stamps to reuse them, wrote answers in the letters received, using the empty parts of the sheets, and diluted the glue to the point of turning into real water.

To save heating costs, Getty installed several electric heaters in his living room. But he went even further: his guests sometimes used a Sutton Place phone to make long-distance calls to Australia and the US. It wasn’t cheap at all. And so, in the mansion, a public telephone was installed for guests. So each one, to make a call, had to pay out of pocket. Once, the rich man took his friends to a dog show in London and forced them to walk in the park until 5 pm, when the price of admission was halved. According to the US tax office, for many years he paid only $500 in taxes a year. The multimillionaire handled his purchases in a totally inexplicable and cost-effective way. For example, he never bought socks for more than a dollar. In his old age, he began to suffer from phobias. He was afraid of flying in an airplane and of answering the phone because “something might come out of the phone.” This fear was constantly used by Getty’s secretaries as an excuse when he didn’t want to communicate by phone with his family members.

Getty, celebrating his 80th birthday, along with Patricia Nixon, the eldest daughter of then US President Richard Nixon.

The old man turned to doctors on several occasions to give him injections that would allow him to preserve his masculine capacity. In his last interview, a few weeks before his death, in response to the question “What else does the richest man in the world want?”, Getty replied, “I would like to continue doing business.” When the rich oil worker died, his will shocked all his descendants: he left almost nothing to his family. The sons and loyal servants received a misery. Most of its heritage ended up in the museum of the city of Malibu, which thus became the richest museum in history. Experts estimated its active funds at 2.5 billion dollars. Getty’s death was commented this way by a TV presenter: “The richest, loneliest, most selfish man in the world has passed away. For 84 years of his life, he didn’t give a penny to charities.”

Our team was extremely impacted by Getty’s pettiness, particularly when he refused to pay his grandson’s ransom. What fact of this man’s life will remain in your memory? Comment!