Gordon P Getty

Mayor Gavin Newsom sold his local business interests to oil heir Gordon Getty for $1.7 million earlier this year, the mayor's spokesman said. The 36-year-old millionaire mayor, who took office Jan. 8, earlier announced his decision to get out of the businesses he co-owned in San Francisco -- including the PlumpJack Cafe, the Balboa Cafe and the Matrix-Fillmore bar -- to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

This is a story about open secrets and closed mouths, about a man with a double life and the singular city that has sheltered him. Gordon Getty, an heir to the Getty Oil fortune and an international patron of the arts, has acknowledged that he has two families: wife Ann and four grown sons here, and three young daughters living quietly in the Los Angeles area with their mother, Cynthia Beck. Quietly, that is, until now.

This is a story about open secrets and closed mouths, about a man with a double life and the singular city that has sheltered him. Gordon Getty, an heir to the Getty Oil fortune and an international patron of the arts, has acknowledged that he has two families: wife Ann and four grown sons here, and three young daughters living quietly in the Los Angeles area with their mother, Cynthia Beck. Quietly, that is, until now.

Gordon P. Getty, one of the richest men in the United States, had a secret second family for more than a decade. Now that family is trying to gain inheritance rights from the billionaire heir to the Getty oil fortune. Getty, a San Francisco socialite, philanthropist and composer, has confirmed that he fathered three daughters in Los Angeles, the San Jose Mercury News reported Friday. "Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children. Their mother, Cynthia Beck, and I, love them very much.

In May, 1982, Gordon P. Getty, a San Francisco opera enthusiast and composer, came to power as sole trustee of his family's multibillion-dollar fortune in Getty Oil stock. Over the next nine months, Getty embarked on what one company lawyer described as an "odyssey of discovery" at Getty Oil, a journey that brought him into conflict with the company's chairman, Sidney Petersen. By the summer of 1983, their disputes had pushed Getty Oil precariously close to a takeover.

"Business is just my avocation," Gordon Getty says. "Music is my vocation." That may surprise those who recognize Getty only as the multimillionaire son of oil magnate J. Paul Getty, and it may surprise those critics who have suggested--some none too subtly--that Getty's compositions are performed only in expectation of substantial patronage. Getty, however, takes his calling as a composer quite earnestly.

Conrad's cartoon of Khomeini carrying an oversized AK-47 under his right arm (Feb. 17) holding "The Satanic Verses" with his outstretched left arm, yelling "Author! Author!" is a real classic. Mr. Conrad, I salute you. SAMUEL S. SHERWIN Los Angeles

Mayor Gavin Newsom sold his local business interests to oil heir Gordon Getty for $1.7 million earlier this year, the mayor's spokesman said. The 36-year-old millionaire mayor, who took office Jan. 8, earlier announced his decision to get out of the businesses he co-owned in San Francisco -- including the PlumpJack Cafe, the Balboa Cafe and the Matrix-Fillmore bar -- to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Gordon P. Getty, one of the richest men in the United States, had a secret second family for more than a decade. Now that family is trying to gain inheritance rights from the billionaire heir to the Getty oil fortune. Getty, a San Francisco socialite, philanthropist and composer, has confirmed that he fathered three daughters in Los Angeles, the San Jose Mercury News reported Friday. "Nicolette, Kendalle and Alexandra are my children. Their mother, Cynthia Beck, and I, love them very much.

A jury has ruled that the multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law of the late oil baron J. Paul Getty must pay a Torrance aircraft brokerage firm almost $4 million in damages for withholding a $432,500 commission on the purchase of a luxury Boeing 727. Figures in the 2 1/2-week trial included members of one of America's wealthiest families, an aircraft broker whose clients have included Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy and Sammy Davis Jr.

A jury ruled Thursday that the multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law of the late oil baron J. Paul Getty must pay a Torrance aircraft brokerage firm almost $4 million in damages for withholding a $432,500 commission on the couple's purchase of a luxury Boeing 727. Players in the 2 1/2-week trial included members of one of America's wealthiest families, an aircraft broker whose clients have included Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy and Sammy Davis Jr.

The multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law of the late J. Paul Getty took the stand this week in a civil trial on allegations they denied an aircraft broker a $400,000 commission. In testimony Tuesday and Wednesday, Ann Getty said she never hired the broker, Garrett Corp. of Torrance, and Gordon Getty maintained he merely signed a check for a down payment for the customized Boeing 727.

At the heart of the matter is a Boeing 727 jet, and a real nice one at that. It has a huge galley for cooks to prepare world-class meals, a combination conference and sitting room, a dining room and a master suite with two bedrooms featuring king-size beds and showers. Price tag: $8.6 million. That is what Gordon Getty, son of the late oil baron J. Paul Getty, and his wife, Ann, paid for the customized aircraft in 1986.

A jury has ruled that the multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law of the late oil baron J. Paul Getty must pay a Torrance aircraft brokerage firm almost $4 million in damages for withholding a $432,500 commission on the purchase of a luxury Boeing 727. Figures in the 2 1/2-week trial included members of one of America's wealthiest families, an aircraft broker whose clients have included Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy and Sammy Davis Jr.

After five seemingly serene years composing and listening to classical music in the soundproof salon of his San Francisco mansion, Gordon Getty, the quirky, 55-year-old oil heir, has made a splashy return to the world of big business. His last major business exposure was at Getty Oil Co., not as an executive but as a member of its board and sole trustee of the family fortune that owned 40% of the company.

After five seemingly serene years composing and listening to classical music in the soundproof salon of his San Francisco mansion, Gordon Getty, the quirky, 55-year-old oil heir, has made a splashy return to the world of big business. His last major business exposure was at Getty Oil Co., not as an executive but as a member of its board and sole trustee of the family fortune that owned 40% of the company.

Conrad's cartoon of Khomeini carrying an oversized AK-47 under his right arm (Feb. 17) holding "The Satanic Verses" with his outstretched left arm, yelling "Author! Author!" is a real classic. Mr. Conrad, I salute you. SAMUEL S. SHERWIN Los Angeles