#352 J. Paul Getty: The Richest Private Citizen in America

**David Senra** (0:00)
In this episode about J. Paul Getty, you're gonna hear that Getty made it a priority to build relationships with other top entrepreneurs and business people. In fact, he was so dedicated to this idea that he set up a thing that he calls the Liaison Center solely for this purpose. I am doing something similar with the founder events that I'm hosting. If you want to come build relationships with other founders, investors, and executives that listen to Founders Podcast, make sure you come to a founders event. There is one happening in beautiful Scotts Valley, California on July 29th through the 31st, and another one happening in Austin, Texas on September 27th through the 29th. These events are all-inclusive, which means all you have to do is get yourself there and I take care of the rest. So you're lodging, you're meals, access to every talk and session, everything is included. If you want to come hang out with me and other founders and investors for two days, make sure you go to founderspodcast.com forward slash events, that's founderspodcast.com forward slash events and sign up. Hope to see you there and I hope you enjoy this episode on J. Paul Getty.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
I accept these tenets wholeheartedly without reservation. That is an excerpt from the book that I'm gonna talk to you about today. That is John Paul Getty actually quoting Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln is the one that said those words. And that comes from the book that I'm gonna talk to you about today, which is As I See It, The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty. This book is incredible for a number of reasons. One, when he's writing it, J. Paul Getty is considered the richest private citizen in the world. He is also writing it in the last year of his life. This book is over 50 years old. It gets published in 1976 Right before it is published, J. Paul Getty dies. So this book is really his last words on his remarkable life. It is also incredible because of the way it is structured. It is, it's almost like you're sitting down and having a one-sided conversation with like a wise 83-year-old grandfather, and he's recounting his life. It's not in chronological order at all. He's just gonna tell you whatever happens to be on his mind at that time. But he also gives you a lot of great advice because he had been an entrepreneur for over 60 years by the time he sits down and he's still going. He works until the day he dies. And so something that J. Paul Getty repeats over and over again throughout the book is the fact that he considers himself an entrepreneur. His friends are entrepreneurs. It really is just writing down the lessons that he learned in his sixth decade career for the future benefit of the entrepreneurs that are gonna come after him. And so as he's telling this life story of his, there's just a lot of really great advice for you and I. Before I get there, and that's gonna be like 90% of what I wanna talk to you about today, I have to start with the relationship that he had with his father. His father is the one that got him involved in the oil business to begin with. He says over and over again, he has a great line that he repeats, that my seat was set for me. Without the love and training of my father, I would not be the man I became. And I think the best way to introduce you to that idea actually comes at the very end of the book. He's talking about the fact that he becomes friends with the world's elite. There's so many stories about the King of England and all the presidents and all the great entrepreneurs. He knows everybody. This book is thrilling. I hope you wind up buying it. It's very fun to read, actually. But there's a great story at the very end that illustrates this self-awareness that he has, this respect and honor. Remember, he's writing these words 45 years after his father passes away. And this is what he says. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller did me the honor of saying that my entrepreneurial success in the oil business put me on par with his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller Sr. My response was that comparing me to John D. Sr. was like comparing a sparrow to an eagle.