Barry Munitz abruptly ended his controversial eight-year tenure as head of the J. Paul Getty Trust on Thursday, agreeing to resolve "any continuing disputes" by paying the Getty $250,000 and giving up severance pay and benefits that would have exceeded $1.2 million.
Munitz admitted no wrongdoing, and the trust did not specify the issues underlying his resignation. But the decision came after more than a year of relentless controversy at the Getty, much of which has centered on Munitz's leadership.
The Times reported in June that he had lavishly spent Getty funds on first-class international travel with his wife, approved grants to friends and associates, and lobbied for a raise while he ordered budget cuts and layoffs. The report triggered a continuing investigation by the state attorney general into whether Munitz's actions compromised the Getty's nonprofit status.
The resignation marked a stunning downfall for a man who brought extensive business and academic experience to the world's richest art institution, not to mention a bevy of friendships with Los Angeles' power elite. An advisor to Govs. Pete Wilson and Gray Davis and former head of the California State University system, Munitz counted billionaire Eli Broad and former Paramount Studios chief Sherry Lansing as close friends.
Late in 1997, he moved from Cal State to the trust, which includes the nation's third-richest private foundation, days before the opening of the Getty Center.
His departure came after more than three months of steadily increasing pressure. In late October, the Getty board announced that it had hired Los Angeles attorney Ronald L. Olson to conduct an independent review of the trust's operations. Olson's investigation would examine Munitz's spending as well as charges by Italian authorities that many of the Getty's prized antiquities had been looted from that country.
At the time, the Getty board chairman, John Biggs, issued a statement saying Olson's investigation was intended to ensure that "the board and each of its members and employees meets all legal requirements as well as the highest ethical standards."
The board discussed Olson's findings at a meeting this past weekend. Biggs said Thursday that Munitz had suggested resigning a couple of weeks ago but "made a firm decision during the early part of this week."
Since then, Munitz had been negotiating with the board over "a severance arrangement that was satisfactory," Biggs said.
