People only just realising why Getty images is called that

One of the world's leading suppliers of editorial photography and stock images as well as video and music, Getty Images has a fascinating family history that not everyone seems to know about.

Founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein, the Seattle-based company is a go-to destination to get your hands on high-quality images and video content for editorial and commercial purposes. Fresh off its merger with Shutterstock in January of this year, Getty Images has built on its total equity of $681 million as of 2023, and keeps providing jobs for 1,700 employees.

Well before Mark co-founded the company, the Getty family had been a fixed presence in the headlines, with the dynasty becoming one of the most influential clans in the US.

This seems to be news to some netizens, with a Reddit thread about Nats Getty and Gigi Gorgeous' recent divorce having multiple users shocked at the connection.

One person joked that they thought Getty was called that 'because that's where you get(ty) your images', while someone else revealed they 'only found out' about the Gettys when Balthazar Getty was dating Sienna Miller.

A family of Scots-Irish ancestry, the Gettys immigrated in the US from Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

Settling down in the US, the Gettys started an intricate family tree, with multiple marriages and several heirs with professions spanning from big-shot lawyers to a designer who dressed Kim Kardashian and a Hollywood actor.

Let's have a look at some of the most popular Getty family members and what they did as part of America's gilded dynasty, from actors to being involved in a dramatic kidnapping that rocked the 1970s.

George Franklin Getty

Born in Maryland in 1855, George Getty was the patriarch of the Getty family.

He was an American lawyer, pioneer oilman, and father of industrialist J. Paul Getty with wife Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher.

He died in 1930 at the age of 74.

J Paul Getty

Born in 1892 to George and Sarah Catherine, J Paul is best known for having founded Getty Oil, amassing 80 per cent of the world's oil empire, and for his pretty lively romantic life.

He got married five times and had five sons from three different wives, including Sir Paul Getty from his marriage to fourth wife Ann Rork.

He died in 1976 at the age of 83.

Sir Paul Getty

Born in 1932, Sir Paul was the eldest son of J Paul and Ann Rork.

He was born in Genoa, at the time part of the Kingdom of Italy (before the country voted to abolish the monarchy in 1946) and was an Anglophile.

He became a British citizen in 1997 and legally changed his name from Eugene Paul to John Paul.

Mark Getty

The son of John Paul Getty and Abigail Harris, Mark co-founded Getty Images in 1995 and is now chairman of the company.

He has three sons from his first marriage to Italian designer Domitilla Harding and now lives in Rome with his second wife, Caterina Nahberg, with whom he has a daughter.

John Paul Getty III

John Paul, born in 1956 to John Paul JR and water polo champion Abigail Harris, is best known for being the victim of a kidnapping at the hands of 'Ndrangheta in 1973. At the time, 17-year-old John Paul was living in Rome, being held for a ransom of $17 million that his grandfather J Paul, at the time the richest man in the world, famously was reluctant to pay.

J Paul rethought his original plan once the kidnappers mailed John Paul's severed ear to a newspaper, with his grandfather negotiating a payment of $2.2 million.

After his five-month ordeal, John Paul married German photographer Gisela Schmidt, adopting her daughter Anna and welcoming son Balthazar together in 1975.

As a result of his traumatic experience, he developed an addiction to alcohol and drugs, leading to an overdose and stroke in 1981 which left him disabled. He died in 2011.

Balthazar Getty

The only son of John Paul, Balthazar is a musician and actor who has appeared in David Lynch movie Lost Highway, as well as TV shows Alias and Brothers & Sisters. Reuniting with Lynch, Balthazar also starred on the Twin Peaks revival series aired in 2017.

His recent acting credits include Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and also starring Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel.

Ariadne Getty

The sister of John Paul III and Mark, Ariadne was born in 1962 to John Paul and Abigail Harris.

She's a film producer and a philanthropist who advocates for LGBTQ+ rights inspired by her two children, Nats and August Getty.

August Getty

The son of Ariadne and actor Justin Williams, 31-year-old August is a fashion designer and the founder of August Getty Atelier.

His work is influenced by Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, among others, and he has dressed celebrities of the likes of Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Paris Hilton.

He is openly gay, crediting Lady Gaga's queer anthem 'Born This Way' to have helped him in his teenage years (via The Telegraph).

Nats Getty

August's brother, Nats is a model, LGBTQ+ activist and designer and founder of Strike Oil, a clothing and lifestyle brand whose name is a nod to the Getty's oil empire.

He married YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous in 2019 after three years of dating. In 2021, Nats came out as a trans man, using he/him pronouns.

The couple filed for divorce on July 2 this year, saying through a rep that they have 'amicably decided to part ways' and still 'remain friends'.

Ivy Getty

One of the youngest family members of the Getty clan, 30-year-old Ivy is an heiress, model and musician.

Often described as an 'It Girl', Ivy is a fixed presence at Fashion Weeks around the globe and even made the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List in 2022.

In 2020, Getty married photographer Tobias Alexander Engel. She filed for divorce in 2024.