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Getty learned Arabic, befriended the Saudi king, and struck oil
J. Paul Getty turned a $10,000 gift (worth ~$150K today) into an oil fortune. He learned Arabic, became one of the first Americans in newly founded Saudi Arabia, befriended the king, and built Getty Oil, owning 50% of one of the world's biggest companies.
“And then what he did was he learned Arabic and he was the first kind of American to go over to Saudi Arabia. You know, Saudi Arabia was founded, I think, in the '30s, like the modern-day Saudi Arabia founded in like the '30s, '40s. I believe it's brand new. And JP made buddies with the, with the king.”
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The world's cheapest billionaire: Getty's payphone, fake art, and hand-washed clothes
J. Paul Getty, once the richest man in America, was famously frugal: he had a payphone in his mansion, hung only fake art at home while storing the real art that could appreciate, reused paper, and laundered his own clothes by hand.
“He would collect art. But in the home it was all fake art and he would only buy shit that could make money. So he bought art, but he wouldn't keep it in the home and he would not— he would launder his clothes by hand. He would reuse paper all the time. So he was famous for sending you a letter and like only the backside was written for you because the front side was like his note-taking for something else. And he had a payphone in his house”
Billy
Getty paid his kidnapped grandson's ransom at the max tax-deductible amount
Billionaire J. Paul Getty's grandson was kidnapped and an ear was mailed to him. Getty negotiated the ransom down to $2.2 million, the maximum that was tax deductible, then lent his son the remaining $800K at 4% interest.
“So when the kidnappers finally reduced their demands to $3 million, Getty agreed to pay no more than $2.2 million, which is the equivalent of $12 million today. This is the maximum that is tax deductible. He then lent his son the remaining $800 grand to get to the $3 million at 4% interest.”