Gordon Getty
Gordon Getty family fully supportive,The oil heir billionaire had a longtime affair and fathered three children with his L.A. mistress, while his wife raised their four sons in his hometown.San Fransisco high society was in uproar yesterday after learning that its leading light and one of the world's richest men, Gordon Getty, had admitted leading a dual existence by keeping a secret second family in Los Angeles.
Mr Getty, who has a wife and four children in San Fransisco, confessed to his double life after a Los Angeles woman, Cynthia Beck, went to court on behalf of her three daughters.She is asking the judge to allow the girls to change their name to Getty and lodge claims for a share in the family fortune.
The three girls are 8, 10 and 14 years old, suggesting that Mr Getty had lived with his secret since the mid-80s at least. The philanthropist and composer - the fourth of five sons of the oil magnate J Paul Getty - was reported to be on a sailing holiday in Europe, but his spokesman, Larry Kramer, issued a statement on his behalf.
The statement appeared to have been written several months earlier in anticipation of the scandal becoming public.
"Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children. Their mother, Cynthia Beck, and I love them very much. The most important concern is that the children's needs be addressed … this will be our first priority," the statement said.
"The Getty family has been fully supportive throughout this situation, and for that I am very grateful," it said.
According to the California press, Mr Getty's wife Ann and his four sons had known about his other children for some time. Family friends cited by the San Jose Mercury said Mrs Getty, who is known for her interests in book publishing, anthropology and interior decor, was not seeking a divorce, although other sources claimed that there were problems in the marriage.
A lawyer for the three girls, Stephen Burgin, said that he did not expect any opposition from Mr Getty to their name change.
"The father has not expressed any problems with that," he said, referring to it as a "pretty perfunctory" process. However, the next hearing on the case has been postponed until November.
Mr Burgin said that the girls were the motive force for the court case. "They know and love their dad and wanted to bear his name. It's fairly straightforward. Their mother is aware of it, but this is not her issue, it's their issue," he said.
The revelations about Mr Getty's double life are just the latest chapter in a colourful, mega-wealthy dynastic history. For many years the family led a reclusive life after one of Gordon Getty's nephews, Jean Paul Getty III, was kidnapped in 1973. The dynasty's patriarch, J Paul Getty, helped pay the $3.2m (£2m) ransom and the 16-year-old boy was returned, but not before the kidnappers had cut off his ear.
In the 80s, Mr Getty got out of the oil business, selling the company his father founded to Texaco for $10.1bn, making him the richest man in the United States, according to Forbes magazine. Instead, with assets valued last year at over $2bn, he became a leading member of the San Fransisco music scene.
He attended the San Francisco Conservatory and turned his hand to composing. His opera, Plump Jack, was performed by the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra.
While his brother John-Paul Getty II has chosen to lead a reclusive life in London, Gordon and Ann Getty have revelled in their role as the monarchs of San Francisco society. They have hosted grandiose fundraising dinners for PresidentBill Clinton and the Democrats, and have lent their Pacific Heights mansion for high profile social events such as the wedding of US television star Don Johnson.
Gordon Getty family fully supportive,The oil heir billionaire had a longtime affair and fathered three children with his L.A. mistress, while his wife raised their four sons in his hometown.San Fransisco high society was in uproar yesterday after learning that its leading light and one of the world's richest men, Gordon Getty, had admitted leading a dual existence by keeping a secret second family in Los Angeles.
Mr Getty, who has a wife and four children in San Fransisco, confessed to his double life after a Los Angeles woman, Cynthia Beck, went to court on behalf of her three daughters.She is asking the judge to allow the girls to change their name to Getty and lodge claims for a share in the family fortune.
The three girls are 8, 10 and 14 years old, suggesting that Mr Getty had lived with his secret since the mid-80s at least. The philanthropist and composer - the fourth of five sons of the oil magnate J Paul Getty - was reported to be on a sailing holiday in Europe, but his spokesman, Larry Kramer, issued a statement on his behalf.
The statement appeared to have been written several months earlier in anticipation of the scandal becoming public.
"Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children. Their mother, Cynthia Beck, and I love them very much. The most important concern is that the children's needs be addressed … this will be our first priority," the statement said.
"The Getty family has been fully supportive throughout this situation, and for that I am very grateful," it said.
According to the California press, Mr Getty's wife Ann and his four sons had known about his other children for some time. Family friends cited by the San Jose Mercury said Mrs Getty, who is known for her interests in book publishing, anthropology and interior decor, was not seeking a divorce, although other sources claimed that there were problems in the marriage.
A lawyer for the three girls, Stephen Burgin, said that he did not expect any opposition from Mr Getty to their name change.
"The father has not expressed any problems with that," he said, referring to it as a "pretty perfunctory" process. However, the next hearing on the case has been postponed until November.
Mr Burgin said that the girls were the motive force for the court case. "They know and love their dad and wanted to bear his name. It's fairly straightforward. Their mother is aware of it, but this is not her issue, it's their issue," he said.
The revelations about Mr Getty's double life are just the latest chapter in a colourful, mega-wealthy dynastic history. For many years the family led a reclusive life after one of Gordon Getty's nephews, Jean Paul Getty III, was kidnapped in 1973. The dynasty's patriarch, J Paul Getty, helped pay the $3.2m (£2m) ransom and the 16-year-old boy was returned, but not before the kidnappers had cut off his ear.
In the 80s, Mr Getty got out of the oil business, selling the company his father founded to Texaco for $10.1bn, making him the richest man in the United States, according to Forbes magazine. Instead, with assets valued last year at over $2bn, he became a leading member of the San Fransisco music scene.
He attended the San Francisco Conservatory and turned his hand to composing. His opera, Plump Jack, was performed by the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra.
While his brother John-Paul Getty II has chosen to lead a reclusive life in London, Gordon and Ann Getty have revelled in their role as the monarchs of San Francisco society. They have hosted grandiose fundraising dinners for PresidentBill Clinton and the Democrats, and have lent their Pacific Heights mansion for high profile social events such as the wedding of US television star Don Johnson.