William Alfred Newsom III (February 15, 1934 – December 12, 2018) was an American state appeals court judge, administrator of the Getty family trust, and the father of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Early life and education Newsom was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Christine Anne (née Brennan) and William A. Newsom II. He was known as Bill to all friends and family. A lifelong San Franciscan, Newsom had longstanding political and financial ties. His father ran Pat Brown's campaign for San Francisco district attorney, who then later became governor of California. Newsom's late sister Barbara was once married to Ron Pelosi, brother-in-law of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. He was also a close friend of Gordon Getty, son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, who lived in his house during the 1940s while attending St. Ignatius Catholic prep school in San Francisco. Newsom went to University of San Francisco, followed by Stanford Law School and was admitted to the California Bar in 1962. Career He worked as legal adviser to the Italian division of Getty Oil and then as a tax attorney for the Getty family. Newsom helped to deliver the ransom money for the release of John Paul Getty III. In 1967, he married Tessa Menzies, and had two children (including Gavin) before divorcing after five years. In 1968, he ran unsuccessfully against State Senator Milton Marks, a popular Republican. Newsom was also corporate counsel and a board member for Trans-International Computer Investment Corporation (TCI), which handled classified government contracts, for which Newsom was issued a National Security Clearance. TCI went bankrupt in 1971 after what the Sacramento District Attorney called "the biggest stock fraud in California history," whose participants included many members of Governor Reagan's Kitchen Cabinet and appointment secretary Helene von Damm. For most of 1969 and 1970, Newsom traveled across Europe alongside former SS Gestapo member Otto von Bolschwing who had been brought to the US by the CIA under Operation Paperclip and appointed TCI's president by Getty due to his former Nazi intelligence connections and their value in obtaining defense technology contracts. It was during this time that von Bolschwing introduced Newsom to the business of importing and selling wine from Argentina - a business venture that would later be emulated by Newsom's son, Gavin. In 1975, Jerry Brown appointed Newsom to the Superior Court bench in Auburn (Placer County) and later to the