Business: Whale into Jonah?

Of all prodigious oilmen not the least is J. (for Jean) Paul Getty of Los Angeles. He was born in Minneapolis. His father George was of Scottish descent, a man who began life with little money and died in 1930 leaving an estate valued at $21.000,000. Jean Paul went to the University of California, later to Oxford whence he was graduated in 1914. In 1915 Jean Paul, interested in philosophy, an athlete, a pianist, a speaker of eight languages, was an oil lease broker in Tulsa, Okla.. with not a penny of his father’s money behind him.

The first year he grossed $1,000. Then he bought and auctioned a lease in Stone-bluffs. Okla., netted $45,000, his first wealth. Just before the panic of 1921, he went to Europe. Six months later he returned to find himself $400,000 in debt. It took him three years to pay it back. By 1929 he was once more on his way, able to pay a seven-figured sum for a third interest in his father’s oil properties.

He just ”took things easily,” never tried hard, never let other people know what he was trying for. He married twice. He traveled. With his own hands he tinkered with his Ford coupe and battered old Duesenberg. In February 1932 by dickering with Blyth & Co. and J. & W. Seligman, he, aged 39, got control of 520,000 of the 1,000,000 shares of Pacific Western Oil Corp.

Since then Pacific Western (which owns the remainder of E. L. Doheny’s former Pacific Coast properties, a 40% slice of the Elwood field, and a half interest in Kettleman Oil Corp.) has been Jean Paul’s springboard. Pacific Western is a considerable producer but lacks outlets. In the spring of 1932 J. Paul Getty started collecting the stock of Tide Water Associated Oil Co. (which in 1926 acquired control of Associated Oil Co). Tide Water Associated has plenty of outlets but lacks production. It is also five times the size of Pacific Western. Last week it was announced that Pacific Western, Jean Paul Getty and friends, had acquired 1,100,000 of the 5,600,000 shares of Tide Water Associated, at an average price of $5 per share. Last week the market price was over $10.

The possibility of Jonah swallowing the whale was increased by the prospect of Jean Paul’s getting another 1,000,000 shares of Tide Water Associated from Standard Oil of New Jersey. Standard Oil does not own the stock. It is held by Mission Securities Corp. which bought it in 1930 and still owes Standard $15 per share on the purchase. If Standard takes it back and makes a deal with Jean Paul, Jonah will have nearly 40% of his whale safely inside.