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Visit to Mount Olympus. Why has Getty stayed away from the U.S. for almost seven years? His critics insist it is to avoid either taxes (Getty pays full U.S. taxes on his personal income of more than $1,000,000) or lawsuits by his ex-wives. But Getty is on friendly terms with them, takes care of them financially. They speak well of him, and wife No. 4, who gets $1,000 a month, is writing the story of his life. Getty has his own explanation: "There are plenty of capable people in my companies who know the Stateside oil business. But almost nobody in the U.S. knows anything about Middle Eastern oil. I stay over here to be in close touch with my Middle Eastern oil business."
He rarely sees his five sons, four of whom work for his companies. Son George, 34, a vice president of Tidewater, recently flew to Paris to see his father, with whom he has spent only six weeks since the first year of his life. He was understandably anxious. Said he: "Mr. Getty is the smartest businessman I know. Coming to see him is like a visit to Mount Olympus." Getty's youngest son, Timothy Christopher, 12, who is recovering from a series of eye operations, lives at the Pierre with his mother, Louise Lynch Getty; Getty talks with him by telephone, but has not seen him for a year and a half. Son Jean Ronald Getty, 28, is Tidewater's vice president in charge of marketing. Sons Gordon Peter, 24, and Eugene Paul, 25, will go to the Neutral Zone next month to meet their father, work like any regular hands among the drills and the rigs. Says George: "Mr. Getty would never promote anyone just because he was his son. With him, performance is the thing."
So highly does Getty value performance that he does not trust anyone to do a good job who does not have a moneyed stake in his work. Says Getty: "I think having your own money in the business you are running makes you a lot sharper. Stockholders in my companies at least have the consolation of knowing that if they lose money, I will lose a lot more."
Getty has taken care of his stockholders in the manner of many oil companies that pay small dividends, put profits into development. As a result, the investment in a single share of Getty Oil bought for $3 when Getty took over Pacific Western in 1932 is now worth $152, counting stock splits. In the same manner, Skelly Oil stock has risen from $26, when the company came into Getty's hands in 1937, to $231 today; Tidewater has marched forward from $19 in 1951 to $93 today.
Getty Oil's earnings zoomed from $7,887,947 in 1956 to an estimated $17.3 million last year, and Skelly's earnings rose from $34.1 million to an estimated $37.3 million. But Tidewater is expected to report an earnings drop from $34 million in 1956 to $27.2 million in 1957. Reason: Refiner Tidewater has been harder hit than the producing end of Getty's empire by the drop-off in gasoline demand.