Gordon Peter Getty (born December 20, 1933) is an American businessman, investor, philanthropist and classical music composer, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork, was his father’s fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty’s US$2 billion trust. According to the Forbes 400, as of September 2011 his net worth is $2 billion, making him number 212 on the list of the richest Americans.
Life and career
Getty was raised in San Francisco, California, attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory, University of San Francisco and earned a B.A. in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He married Ann Gilbert in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Christmas Day, 1964. He has seven children: four sons with his wife, Ann Gilbert Getty, and three daughters with a woman from Los Angeles, Cynthia Beck, with whom he had an affair throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
He joined the oil business to please his father; however, he eventually sold the family’s Getty Oil to Texaco in 1986 for US$10 billion. In 1983, Forbes magazine ranked him the richest person in America with a net worth a little over $2 billion. His current net worth is cited as $2 billion, making him the 212th richest person in the United States.
Getty is one of the nation’s leading venture capitalists and philanthropists. In 2002, he donated US$3 million to the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, a charitable trust. He is a major fundraiser for local and national Democratic Party candidates, and has contributed to the campaigns of Nancy Pelosi, Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom, and John Kerry.
Among a number of professions, Getty is a classical music composer, whose compositions include the opera Plump Jack, Joan and the Bells, piano pieces and a collection of choral works. His one-act opera Usher House was performed by the San Francisco Opera in 2015. Aspiring to become an opera singer, Getty studied in the mid-1970s with Louise Caselotti, a mezzo-soprano who had been Maria Callas’ voice teacher (1946–47). He and his wife have supported the fine arts, especially underwriting productions of the San Francisco Opera and the Russian National Orchestra.
In 2002, Getty founded ReFlow, a company which temporarily purchases shares in mutual funds to save funds taxes and commissions.
On April 1, 2015, it was reported that Getty’s son Andrew Rork Getty died at his home in Hollywood Hills of what was initially classified as natural causes, however coroner’s officials needed to wait for the results of further examination and toxicology tests before making a final determination.
On May 9, 2015 was the premiere at Leipzig Opera of The Canterville Ghost opera by Gordon Getty.
Gordon Getty’s life and work was chronicled in Peter Rosen’s documentary Gordon Getty: There Will be Music which premiered on February 5, 2016 at Cinema Village in New York City.
| Gordon Getty | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gordon Peter Getty December 20, 1933 Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Businessman, investor, philanthropist, composer |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Gilbert (m. 1964) |
| Children | Gordon Peter Getty, Jr. (b. 1965) Andrew Rork Getty (1967–2015) John Gilbert Getty (b. 1968) William Paul Getty (b. 1970) Nicolette Getty Kendalle Getty Alexandra Getty |
| Parent(s) | J. Paul Getty Ann Rork Light |
Gordon Getty Net Worth: Gordon Getty is an American businessman, investor, philanthropist and classical music composer who has a net worth of $2.1 billion. Having acquired the bulk of his fortune as venture capitalist in the U.S., Gordon Getty has also established himself as an avid philanthropist. Currently, he is the chairman of the board and president of Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation. Born Gordon Peter Getty on December 20, 1933, in 1934, Getty studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music. The fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, Gordon took over the control of his father’s US$2 billion trust after his death in 1976. He even joined the oil business to please his father; he couldn’t help but sell the Getty Oil to Texaco in 1986 acquiring US$10 billion. Apart from the above, he founded a company called ReFlow that deals with purchasing shares in mutual funds temporarily in order to save commissions and taxes. As a philanthropist, he has donated to numerous causes through his charitable trust Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, to which he donated US$3 million in 2002. Among various professions, Getty is also a prominent classical music composer, whose compositions include the opera Plump Jack, Joan and the Bells, several piano pieces along with a collection of choral works. Thus, he and his wife, Ann Gilbert, have actively supported the fine arts. This well-heeled father of seven currently resides in San Francisco, California.
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