Getty Oil

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Built from the oil empire of billionaire J. Paul Getty, Getty Oil became one of America’s best-known independent petroleum companies, with major reserves, refineries, and a familiar orange-and-blue brand seen at gas stations across the country.

Then the family business turned into a corporate soap opera.

In 1984, Getty Oil appeared headed for a deal with Pennzoil — until Texaco swooped in with a roughly $10 billion offer and bought the company instead. Pennzoil sued, won a massive judgment against Texaco, and the fight eventually helped send Texaco into bankruptcy protection.

Getty Oil disappeared into Texaco, but not before leaving behind one of the most expensive corporate love triangles in American business history.

Oil made the Getty fortune. Selling the oil company nearly broke somebody else.

Explore our Getty Oil collection celebrating one of the great vanished names of American petroleum.