Gettys Contest Broker’s $400,000 Claim in Plane Purchase

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.

Ann Getty, daughter-in-law of the oil baron who amassed a $4-billion fortune before dying in 1976, said she was unaware the aircraft broker suing her for a commission was instrumental in finding the plane she and her husband--one of J. Paul Getty’s five sons--purchased in 1986 for $8.6 million.

Ann Getty said she believed only one person, retired pilot Robert Moorehead, was searching for the plane, adding that he was compensated with a $100,000 check after the aircraft was purchased.

The Torrance-based Garrett Corp. has sued the couple, claiming its aircraft sales chief, Landis Carr, was denied a $400,000 commission in an oral agreement for finding the plane.

The Gettys, however, contend they never acknowledged Carr as their broker. Any commission that may be due should come from the seller of the aircraft, not from them, said the Gettys’ attorney, Robert S. Span.

Carr said that Moorehead, the father of Ann Getty’s personal assistant, contacted him about private aircraft for sale and that he ultimately found the 727 for the Gettys. Garrett is suing the Gettys for the commission and punitive damages, which would be determined by the jury partly based on the Gettys’ financial status.

News accounts have estimated Gordon Getty’s personal wealth at $30 million to $50 million. He and his four sons also derive income from a $750-million trust, part of J. Paul Getty’s $4-billion bequest divided among his heirs in 1985.

The Gettys this week submitted their personal financial statements, but their actual wealth remains a secret because Torrance Superior Court Judge Bob T. Hight permitted them to file the documents under seal. The information would not be presented in court unless the jury finds in favor of the Garrett Corp.

The customized 727 that the Gettys bought has two master suites, showers, a combination sitting room and conference room and an oversized galley in which gourmet meals can be prepared.

Ann Getty said she was persuaded to buy a personal aircraft by Moorehead, who touted the plane’s extreme comfort and the freedom from commercial airline schedules that owning one would provide.

Ann Getty portrayed her life as full of meetings, civic obligations, and social engagements in San Francisco and New York, where the Gettys have homes. Her busy schedule coupled with her lack of knowledge about aircraft left her to rely on advisers for the purchase of the plane, she said.

Still, Ann Getty said Moorehead did not have the power to independently negotiate an airplane purchase.

“He was helping me to buy a plane. He could not speak for me the way an agent can make an offer,” Ann Getty said under questioning from Garrett Corp. attorney J. Michael Crowe.

Later, she added: “I just told him to go out and find the best.”

She said she knew Landis Carr was involved, but she was not sure whether he was working with Moorehead or the Revlon Corp., which owned the plane before the Gettys bought it. She assumed all brokers work for the sellers.

But Crowe suggested Ann Getty must have known Carr was on her side since Moorehead had recommended in 1982 that she meet with Carr to discuss aircraft. Carr also was present at inspections of a Gulfstream III the Gettys considered buying and of the 727 they purchased.

Crowe questioned Ann Getty’s professed lack of involvement, at one point charging that she looked “at certain facts but not others.”

“I don’t understand the question,” she replied. Crowe didn’t pursue the issue.

Under questioning from her attorney, Ann Getty said that Moorehead never explicitly said he had hired a broker and that she never authorized him to get one. She also said it was never made clear to her that Carr was working on her behalf.

Gordon Getty briefly took the stand, but he testified that he took no part in the negotiations, only signing a check for the airplane when his business adviser and lawyer, Marc Leland, asked him to do so.