- Conrad Hilton
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This article is about Conrad Hilton, Sr. For his son, see Conrad Hilton, Jr.
Conrad Nicholson Hilton 
Born December 25, 1887
Socorro County, New Mexico Territory, U.S.Died January 3, 1979 (aged 91)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.Occupation Hotel businessman and investor Spouse Mary Adelaide Barron (m. 1925–1934)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (m. 1942–1946)
Mary Frances Kelly (m. 1976–1979)Children Conrad Nicholson "Nicky" Hilton, Jr. (1926-1969)
William Barron Hilton (b. 1927)
Eric Michael Hilton (b. 1933)
Constance Francesca Hilton (b. 1947)Conrad Nicholson Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman and investor. He is well known for being the founder of the Hilton Hotels chain.
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Early life
Hilton was born in San Antonio, New Mexico. His father, Augustus Halvorsen "Gus" Hilton, was an immigrant from Norway, and his devout Catholic mother, Mary Genevieve (née Laufersweiler), was an American of German descent. Hilton grew up with seven siblings: Felice A. Hilton, Eva C. Hilton, Carl H. Hilton, Julian Hilton, Rosemary J. Hilton, August H. Hilton, and Helen A. Hilton, Baron Hilton.
Hilton served Goss military (New Mexico Military Institute), and St. Michael's College (now the College of Santa Fe), and the New Mexico School of Mines (now New Mexico Tech). He was a member of the international fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon. In his early twenties, Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, when the state was newly formed. He served two years in the U.S. Army during World War I. While he was in the army, his father was killed in a car accident.[citation needed]
The most enduring influence to shape Hilton's philanthropic philosophy beyond that of his parents was the Roman Catholic Church and his sisters. He credited his mother with guiding him to prayer and the church whenever he was troubled or dismayed — from a boyhood loss of a beloved pony to severe financial losses during the Great Depression. His mother continually reminded him that prayer was the best investment he would ever make.[1][dead link]
Career
As a young boy, Hilton developed entrepreneurial skills working at his father's general store in Socorro County, New Mexico. His first hotel purchase was the 40-room Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in 1919,[2] an investment decision made after his plan to invest in a bank in the oil-boom town fell through; the hotel did such brisk business that rooms changed hands as much as three times a day.[3] He went on to buy hotels throughout Texas. The first high rise hotel he built was the Dallas Hilton, which opened in 1925. This was followed by the Abilene Hilton in 1927, Waco Hilton in 1928, and El Paso Hilton in 1930. He built his first hotel outside of Texas in 1939 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is today known as the Andaluz Hotel. During the Great Depression Hilton was nearly forced into bankruptcy and lost several of his hotels. He was retained as manager, however, and eventually bought them back. He formed the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1946 followed by Hilton International Company, in 1948.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Hilton Hotels' worldwide expansion facilitated both American tourism and overseas business by American corporations. At the same time, it promulgated a certain worldwide standard for hotel accommodations. It was the world's first international hotel chain. In all, Hilton eventually owned 188 hotels in thirty-eight cities in the U.S., including the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D. C., the Palmer House in Chicago, and the Plaza Hotel and Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, along with fifty-four hotels abroad. He later purchased the Carte Blanche Credit Company and an interest in the American Crystal Sugar Company, as well as other enterprises.
Hilton received honorary degrees from the University of Detroit (1953), DePaul University (1954), Barat College (1955), Adelphi College (1957), Sophia University, Tokyo (1963), and the University of Albuquerque (1975). Hilton's autobiography, Be My Guest,[4] was published in 1957 by Prentice Hall. In 1966, Hilton was succeeded as president by his son Barron and was elected chairman of the board.
Personal life
In 1925, Hilton married Mary Adelaide Barron. They had three children: Conrad Nicholson "Nicky" Hilton, Jr., William Barron Hilton, and Eric Michael Hilton, before divorcing in 1934.
In 1942, Hilton married actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. They had one child: Constance Francesca Hilton, before divorcing in 1946. Gabor insisted in her 1991 autobiography One Lifetime is Not Enough that she only became pregnant by Hilton after he raped her during their marriage.[5]
In 1976, Hilton married Mary Frances Kelly. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1979.
Hilton's devout Catholic beliefs included believing deeply in marriage "'til death do us part". Even though it was Barron who divorced him, he still wouldn't officially marry someone else until her death in the mid 1970s.[clarification needed] This was primarily why he divorced Gabor, as he didn't think about it long enough to consider his beliefs. According to him on his episode of the A&E Network show Biography, if he had waited another hour before proposing to Gabor, he would not have.
The Hilton family fortune
In 1979, Hilton died of natural causes at the age of 91. He is interred at Calvary Hill Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery in Dallas, Texas. He left $500,000 to each of his two surviving siblings and $10,000 to each of his nieces, nephews and to his daughter Francesca. The bulk of his estate was left to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation,[6] which he established in 1944. His son, Barron Hilton, who spent much of his career helping build the Hilton Hotels Corporation, contested the will, despite being left the company as acting President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors. A settlement was reached and, as a result, Barron Hilton received 4 million shares of the hotel enterprise, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation received 3.5 million shares, and the remaining 6 million shares were placed in the W. Barron Hilton Charitable Remainder Unitrust.[6] Upon Barron Hilton's death, Unitrust assets will be transferred to the Hilton Foundation[citation needed], of which Barron sits on the Board of Directors as Chairman.[7]
On December 25, 2007, Hilton announced that he will leave about 97% of his fortune (estimated at $2.3 billion),[7] to a charitable unitrust that which will eventually be merged with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.[8] By leaving his estate to the Foundation, Barron is donating not only the fortune he has amassed on his own, but he is also returning the Hilton family fortune amassed by his father, Conrad, to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, where it would have gone over 30 years ago had Barron not contested his father's will.
Legacy
- Conrad Hughes Hilton (the son of Richard Hilton), and Conrad Nicholson Hilton III (son of Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr.), are named after him.
- The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was established in 1944 by Conrad N. Hilton. Its mission is the alleviation of human suffering worldwide.
- Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize created in 1996 by The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
- The Conrad N. Hilton College is a hospitality school of the University of Houston named after Conrad Hilton.
- The Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Business Ethics, The Hilton Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, and the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at the College of Business Administration Loyola Marymount University
- Conrad Hilton is the great grandfather of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.
- In 2009, a fictional version of Hilton (portrayed by actor Chelcie Ross) appears in six episodes of the third season of the AMC television series Mad Men.
Autobiographies
- Be My Guest, Autobiography of Conrad Hilton (Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1958)
- Inspirations of an
References
- ^ About Conrad N. Hilton (Conrad N. Hilton Foundation)
- ^ The Handbook of Texas Online (Texas State Historical Association).
- ^ Associated Press. "Modest Inn at Cisco Began Hotel String of Conrad Hilton," Big Spring Daily Herald, November 21, 1963, p. 12-A.
- ^ Be My Guest, Autobiography of Conrad Hilton.
- ^ Review of Zsa Zsa Gabor's autobiography.
- ^ a b "Hilton, William - Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Social and Economic Impact, Chronology: Hilton, William" (Encyclopedia). Net Industries. http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6273/Hilton-William.html. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ a b "Barron Hilton to Donate 97% of Estate to Hilton Foundation". Planned Giving Design Center, LLC. December 26, 2007. http://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/news-story/2007/12/27/barron-hilton-donate-97-estate-hilton-foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Hilton fortune to go to charity". BBC News. 2007-12-27. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7161358.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
Other sources
- Dabney, Thomas Ewing The Man Who Bought the Waldorf: The Life of Conrad N. Hilton (Duell Sloan & Pearce; 1950)
- Bolton, Whitney The Silver Spade; the Conrad Hilton Story. with a foreword by Conrad Hilton (New York: Farrar, Straus and Young; 1954)
- Comfort, Mildred Houghton Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier (Minneapolis: T.S. Denison & Company, Inc., 1965)
- Oppenheimer, Jerry House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege (Three Rivers Press. 2007)
- Alef, Daniel Conrad N. Hilton: Reveled in Hotel Deals (Titans of Fortune Publishing. 2009)
External links
- Biography: Conrad Hilton, The Innkeeper to The World (Video)
- Biographical Essay by Cathleen Baird (2004) (PDF, 24 pages)
- [1] Conrad N. Hilton College at University of Houston
- Conrad Hilton's Secret of Success
- Conrad Hilton, Collector of Hotels (New York Times Magazine, 1949)
- Innkeeper to the World (TIME, 1963)
- The Key Man (TIME, 1949)
- Waldorf-Astoria as Hotels No. 16 (TIME, 1949)
- Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
- San Angelo's Heartbreak Hotel History of second Hilton hotel built in San Angelo, TX in 1928, and Conrad Hilton's bankruptcy (San Angelo LIVE! Magazine, 2007)
- "Conrad Hilton". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=483. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
- Mad Men: See the Real Conrad Hilton - image slideshow by Life magazine
Categories:- 1887 births
- 1979 deaths
- American hoteliers
- American military personnel of World War I
- American people of German descent
- American people of Norwegian descent
- American Roman Catholics
- American socialites
- Santa Fe University of Art and Design alumni
- Hilton Hotels Corporation
- Members of the New Mexico House of Representatives
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology alumni
- New Mexico Military Institute alumni
- People from Socorro County, New Mexico
- United States Army personnel
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