Biography & Early Wealth Journey

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Getty is a co-founder of the CEF, which is interesting given how much of her wealth can be traced back to the oil business. Her grandfather was Jean Paul Getty, who during the 1960s was considered not only the richest person in the world but perhaps the richest person in human history. The Getty family has not been in the oil business since the early 2000s, and Aileen herself was never involved, but it's clear she's interested in "giving back" to try and reverse some of the damage she sees as having been wrought by oil tycoons like her grandfather over the last century and a half.

Getty's connection with the CEF has invited plenty of controversy, with some characterizing her as a wealthy hobbyist funding glorified vandalism, and others accusing her of intentionally discrediting climate activists with operations like the van Gogh one due as a sort of oil industry double agent. Getty herself responded to the controversy in a Guardian op-ed, characterizing her position like this:

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

"I am the daughter of a famous family who built their fortune on fossil fuels – but we now know that the extraction and use of fossil fuels is killing life on our planet. Our family sold that company four decades ago, and I instead vowed to use my resources to take every means to protect life on Earth."

The Getty family fortune is currently under the control of Gordon Getty, who has a net worth of some $2.1 billion.