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J. Paul Getty, an American industrialist, was as interesting as he was rich. He made his first million by the time he reached age 24 and retired to Los Angeles a year later to give the life of a playboy a try. A failure at romance, he married five times and declared, "A lasting relationship with a woman is only possible if you are a business failure."

In spite of his vast fortune, the miserly Getty had a pay phone for visitors put in his16th-century Tudor estate, Sutton Place, near Guildford, England. When his grandson, John Paul Getty III was kidnapped at the age of 16 in 1973, he refused to pay the $17 million ransom demand. The kidnappers sliced off the grandsons ear and mailed it to a newspaper with a note that read "This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits."

Getty stood his ground, and the kidnappers reduced the ransom to $3 million. Getty still refused saying he would only pay $2.2 million at the most. His son, J. Paul Getty II had to borrow the remaining $800,000 from his father; at 4% interest of course. When the kidnappers released the grandson, J Paul Getty III called his grandfather to thank him. Getty refused to take the call.

Although a miserly failure as a family man, he generously left $661 million to the J. Paul Getty Trust so the public could enjoy his extensive art collection for free. It's the world's wealthiest art trust contributing to the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute.