jean paul getty (december 15, 1892 – june 6, 1976) was an american industrialist. he founded the getty oil company. in 1957 "fortune" magazine named him the richest living american, and the 1966 guinness book of records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1,200 million. at his death, he was worth more than $2 billion. a book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th richest american who ever lived. (the book ranked his wealth as a percentage of the united states gross national product.) despite his wealth, getty was known for being a miser.