Gordon Getty

Gordon Peter Getty (born December 20, 1933) is an American businessman and classical music composer as well as a scion of the wealthy Getty family. Gordon was the fourth child of the oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork, was J. Paul's fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty's $2 billion trust. In March 2026, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated his wealth as $8.15 billion and placed him at number 463 on their list of billionaires worldwide, while the Forbes 400 estimated it at $5.5 billion, making him number 276 on their list of the wealthiest Americans.

Early life Getty was raised in San Francisco, California, where he attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and the University of San Francisco. He also earned a B.A. in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Career Getty joined the oil business to please his father; however, he eventually sold the family's Getty Oil to Texaco in 1986 for about $10 billion.

In 2002, Getty founded ReFlow, a company which temporarily purchases shares in mutual funds to save funds taxes and commissions.

Classical music Among several professions, Getty is a classical music composer whose compositions include the opera Plump Jack, Joan and the Bells, piano pieces, and a collection of choral works. His one-act opera Usher House was performed by the San Francisco Opera in 2015.

Personal life On Christmas Day, 1964, he married Ann Gilbert (1941–2020) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gordon and Ann Getty lived in a yellow Italianate mansion in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Over the years, Getty and Ann, a publisher and a decorator, expanded their living space, buying the house next door (to make room for his work at the piano) and then the house next door to that. They hosted charity events, opera stars, and fundraisers for politicians, including Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom's father, William Newsom, one of Gordon's friends since high school, managed the family trust for years.

Gordon and Ann Getty had four sons: Gordon Peter Getty Jr (born 1965); William Paul Getty (born 1970); Andrew Rork Getty (1967–2015); John Gilbert Getty (1968–2020).

Getty's assets are managed by Vallejo Investments. Vallejo Investments is what's known as a "family office," an in-house financial team of specialized attorneys, accountants, and money managers.

His donations to University of San Francisco helped build the Koret Health & Recreation Center, John Lo Schiavo, S.J. Center for Science & Innovation, and helped establish the J. Paul Getty Honors College Fund.

In popular culture Getty's life as a composer was chronicled in Peter Rosen's documentary Gordon Getty: There Will be Music, which premiered on February 5, 2016, at Cinema Village in New York City. It has been broadcast on PBS in the U.S. and Europe on ARTE, as well as film festivals and programs across the country.

Honors and awards 1986 – Outstanding American Composer, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2003 – Gold Baton, League of American Orchestras 2023 – San Francisco Conservatory of Music Dinner in his Honor

List of works Opera The Canterville Ghost Usher House Plump Jack Goodbye, Mr. Chips Cantata

Joan and the Bells

Chamber works

Four Traditional Pieces Homework Suite Kathie Trio

Choral works

Annabel Lee Ballet Russe Beauty Come Dancing Cynara The Destruction of Sennacherib For a Dead Lady Four Christmas Carols Gretchen to Faust Impenitent Ultima La Belle Dame sans Merci The Little Match Girl Mephistopheles to Faust The Old Man in the Night The Old Man in the Morning The Old Man in the Snow A Prayer for My Daughter There Was A Naughty Boy Those Who Love the Most Three Welsh Songs St. Christopher Victorian Scenes Young America

Orchestral works

Ancestor Suite Four Traditional Pieces Homework Suite Overture to Plump Jack Raise the Colors

Voice and Orchestra

Cyanara The Destruction of Sennacherib Four Dickinson Songs Gretchen to Faust Hostess’s Aria Kathie’s Aria Mephistopheles to Faust No, My Good Lord Poor Peter A Prayer for my Daughter Where is My Lady?

Solo Instrument

Spring Song (for cello) Ninna Nanna (for cello) Winter Song (for cello)

Piano works

Ancestor Suite Andantino First Adventure Four Traditional Pieces Homework Suite Scherzo Pensieroso Tiefer und Tiefer

Songs

Four Dickinson Songs Poor Peter A Prayer for My Daughter The White Election

Arrangements of existing works

All Through the Night – chorus and eight cellos Danny Boy – voice and piano/voice and orchestra Deep River – voice and piano/voice, chorus and orchestra Silent Night – chorus and orchestra Shenandoah – chorus and orchestra

Discography Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2025, Pentatone PTC 5187050) An American Song Album (2019, Pentatone PTC 5186770) Beauty Come Dancing (2018, Pentatone PTC 5186621) A Certain Slant of Light (2018, Pentatone PTC 5186634) The Canterville Ghost (2017, Pentatone PTC 5186541) Out of the Shadows: Rediscovered American Art Song (2016, Pentatone PTC 5186572) The Little Match Girl (2015, Pentatone PTC 5186480) December Celebration: New Carols by Seven American Composers (2015, Pentatone PTC 5186537) Usher House (2013, Pentatone PTC 5186451) Piano Pieces (2013, Pentatone PTC 5186505) The Hours Begin to Sing (2013, Pentatone PTC 5186459) Orchestral Works (2010, Pentatone PTC 5186356) Plump Jack (2012, Pentatone PTC 5186445) The White Election (2009, Pentatone PTC 5186054) And if the song be worth a smile (2008, Pentatone PTC 5186099) Young America Choral Works (2005, Pentatone PTC 5186040) Joan and the bells & Serge Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet (2003, Pentatone PTC 5186017)