J. Paul Getty
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Jean Paul Getty (December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American. A book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th richest American who ever lived, based on his wealth as a percentage of the gross national product.
Getty was an avid collector of art and antiquities; his collection formed the basis of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, and over $661 million of his estate was left to the museum after his death. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953. The trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, and operates the J. Paul Museum, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute.