The Autographs of the World's Richest Man: J Paul GettyJean Paul Getty was born on December 15, 1892 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He worked for his father's oil business, Minnehoma Oil Company, during summer breaks from college (University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley). He finished his degree at Oxford in Britain in 1912. In 1914 he struck out on his own, with loans from his father, and began trading in oil leases in Oklahoma. Getty hit oil in 1916 and made his first million. Since a million dollars was some serious money in 1914, he was able to retire in luxury. After a couple years of living the life of the idle rich, he got back into the oil business. Both he and his father were very successful, and young J. Paul became even richer.  By the end of the 1920's, his personal fortune had grown to more than three million dollars and J. Paul owned one third of Getty Oil Co. At his father's death, J. Paul became president of Getty Oil. During the 1930's he ventured into real estate and took control of Pacific Western Oil Corporation, a major oil company in California.After World War II, J Paul Getty defied conventional wisdom and invested in the Middle East, buying oil rights in Saudi Arabia through deals with King Saud. This huge risk made him a billionaire, the richest man in the world. He died at Sutton Place, his London estate, on June 6, 1976. J. Paul Getty's autographed material is valuable. Signed photos sell in the $400 range. Since J. Paul Getty became famous in business, I think a good item to have in a collection is a signed bank check.
These are still easy to find, but like all bank checks there is a finite supply - so the time to buy is now. I have seen these for sale as high as $400 in memorabilia shops, but one can easily be found on the internet in the $50 range. I bought this one on eBay for around $40.
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