Getty's 90% Dow Crash Buy: A $26 Billion Fortune Born

In 1932, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had plummeted to about 40, down from its peak of 380 in 1929. This meant that most investors had lost nearly all of their paper value and were fleeing the market.

J. Paul Getty saw this as an opportunity, rather than a reason to sell. He bought shares of Tide Water Associated Oil Company at $2.12 each, taking a stake in one of the country's larger oil businesses at a price set by a still-falling market.

Getty's patience paid off. By 1937, those shares traded above $20 each, representing a tenfold return over just five years.

Twenty-five years later, Fortune magazine named Getty the richest living American, with an estimated fortune of $1.2 billion in 1966, equivalent to roughly $8.8 billion today.