The Getty: An Abbr. History of the World's Richest Museum

"All plans are tentative; all courses of action provisional. The only certainty is that the J. Paul Getty Museum is very rich, indeed," wrote the LA Times in 1982. And so the journey to build the Getty Center in the Sepulveda Pass began. Today the Wall Street Journal explores the Getty's financial history, from the 50s until today where it is up against the recession just like everyone else. Says James N. Wood, the museum's director: "We are an institution that is entering young adulthood. It's been a hell of an adolescence: rich, painful and with fighting among siblings."