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Jean Paul Getty (1892-1976) - a powerful, oil tycoon who was at one point the richest man in the world, with a private life described as 'bizarre beyond belief', but what drove him and shaped the man he was?
While there is no shortage of books, documentaries and online material focusing on the tabloid-filling content, this book takes a chronological approach, and examines the four key relationships which shaped his life: parents, business, money, women and art. Marriage and parenthood served to punctuate that life.
Living in the shadow of his father, who never fully trusted in Paul's maturity, judgement and moral values, seems to have driven him to strive for ever more financial success. Getty was viewed as a skilled, shrewd and talented businessman, but in his personal life, he left behind him a string of failed marriages and difficult relationships with many of his children and grandchildren.
The author looks at the difficulties Getty had in interacting with others on a personal level, and why many have portrayed Getty as living a solitary, even lonely life, despite being surrounded by guards, staff, visiting business colleagues and female companions. Instead he suggests that Getty's fortune was to serve as the central foundation of his life. His need to create, defend and expand that fortune – all of which he successfully did – is key to understanding his life.
