A real financial genius of the early 20th century, she could have gone down in history as a stock exchange queen or a great philanthropist, but she entered it as «the witch from Wall Street.»
To this day, she appears in the Guinness Book of Records with a unique reason for pride — «the most stingy person in the world.»
A millionaire who wandered all her life through rented apartments and heated oatmeal on the radiator, and once spent the whole night looking for a postage stamp no more than a couple of cents.
Children’s business
What influenced the life and character of this greatest miser, why such a thirst for hoarding to the detriment of all the joys of life? After all, Getty Green was born far from a poor family and never felt the need. Her parents, adherents of the religious society of the Quakers, owned a serious whaling industry and received fabulous profits. Apparently, along with the genes, the commercial vein got into the blood of the daughter. At the age of six, she was already seriously interested in business, read books on economics and financial newspapers, understood stock quotes, and at the age of 13 she was a real family bookkeeper. By the way, she opened her first bank account — hold on tight to the chair — at the age of eight.
Getty acquired the basics of upbringing at a Quaker school, where the children were drummed every day that the main virtue in life is thrift. Note, not stinginess.
When the girl turned 19, her father sent her to gain secular experience and gloss in New York with $ 1,200 in her pocket. Very decent money. But it was not the high society that lured the Getty, but the game on the stock exchange — that’s where the real adrenaline is! She returned home in the same dress, but happy. By betting on the stock exchange, she doubled the initial capital that her father gave her. It was then that she realized that her home was Wall Street, and making money was her calling.
Money has become a real fetish for her. She literally made them out of thin air, and her quirks instantly scattered around the district. So, on her 21st birthday, Getty refused to light candles on a birthday cake, and the next morning she sold them on the market. And she didn’t throw away the used napkins, but washed and smoothed them for new feasts. She constantly walked in the same old dress, scaring away potential suitors, although she was outwardly an attractive girl. This dress was washed in exceptional cases, and even then not all, but only the hem stained on the sidewalk. We apologize for such shocking details, but even Getty changed her underwear when it was worn out to holes.
