Meet Ivy Getty, the 28-year-old heiress to the Getty oil fortune and a member of one of the richest families in America | Business Insider India (2024)

Erin McDowell

As a member of one of the richest — and most private — families in America, Ivy Getty's personal net worth is largely unknown to the public. However, in 2015, Forbes estimated the Getty family's fortune to be $5.4 billion.

Here's what we know about her life and the fortune she is set to inherit.

At the time of his death in 1976, Jean Paul Getty was worth around $2 billion, or the equivalent of $3.5 billion in 2023.

J. Paul Getty was also infamously recognized for refusing to pay his grandson's ransom of $17 million after he was kidnapped by individuals linked to the Italian mafia. After a newspaper received John Paul Getty III's severed ear in the mail, Getty negotiated a ransom of $2.2 million that led to his grandson's release five months after being captured.

Ivy Getty was born on December 20, 1994, in San Francisco. Her mother is jewelry designer Alyssa Boothby.

Her father, John Gilbert Getty, died at age 52 on November 20, 2020, from complications of an accidental drug overdose.

"I will forever be the proudest daughter," she wrote in a tribute to her father on Instagram after his death.

Gordon Getty, a classical-music composer and winemaker, has a net worth of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes. He was once the sole trustee of the family trust, however, the fortune was broken up into six separate trusts in 1985, with Gordon Getty receiving $750 million, according to The New York Times.

Ann and Gordon Getty were married for 56 years before she died in 2020. They had four sons together, including Ivy's father. Gordon Getty also has three daughters from what The Guardian called "a secret second family."

Ann and Gordon's home in the luxe neighborhood of Pacific Heights featured views of the San Francisco Bay and was filled with a vast collection of priceless antiques, wallpapers, and furnishings.

In 2022, an enormous collection of the house's treasures, including artworks by Henri Matisse, was slated for auction. This sale was expected to garner roughly $180 million, according to Town & Country.

"Education was very important to Ann, so each year she planned educational trips for Ivy and her school friends," Jo Schuman, Ivy Getty's godmother and Ann Getty's best friend, told Magazine C.

"They would take the Getty jet to study art in Paris, learn about animal welfare on safari in Africa, exposing Ivy to the world and learning she loved. Ivy had a very cosmopolitan upbringing."

Getty and Engel first met through a family member and started dating after reuniting at a Paris Fashion Week event.

"I saw this cute guy who was taking photos of the event and of me," she told Vogue in November 2021. "I naturally went over, and we started talking. Quickly we realized that we had met before, the year before."

Engel later proposed with a sapphire engagement ring with diamonds added from a necklace once owned by Getty's grandmother.

For her opulent San Francisco wedding, Getty wore a custom couture gown completely covered in broken mirror shards designed by John Galliano for Maison Margiela. Gordon Getty, her grandfather, walked her down the aisle, and "The Queen's Gambit" actress Anya Taylor-Joy served as maid of honor.

Nancy Pelosi, a Getty family friend, officiated the ceremony at San Francisco City Hall, while the reception was held at the Getty mansion. The total cost for the ceremony alone added up to $102,546, according to public records reviewed by The San Francisco Chronicle.

The Manhattan penthouse is their primary residence.

"Toby and I have lived so many places, and our friends are a very eclectic group," Getty told C Magazine, though she said that the Getty mansion in San Francisco still holds a special place in the couple's heart.

"My grandmother interior designed each room of the house which allows me to feel as if she is there with me," she told Vogue in November 2021. "Her presence is everywhere in that home."