Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century

After accumulating a one-third interest in Getty Oil Company, Getty negotiated for a controlling interest in the company after the death of his father. Getty went on to merge Tidewater Oil Company, Skelly Oil Company, and the Missouri Oil Company into Getty Oil, which had assets of more than $3 billion in 1967. In 1949, the daring Getty paid $9.5 million for a sixty-year concession in Saudi Arabia’s half of the neutral barren tract lying between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. After an initial investment of $30 million, Getty’s speculation paid off. He found enormous quantities of oil in the tract, which came to produce over 16 million barrels of oil per year.