Online Encyclopedia
Conrad Hilton
Conrad Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotelier and founder of the Hilton Hotel chain.
He was born Conrad Nicholson Hilton in San Antonio, New Mexico Territory, the son of Augustus Holver Hilton and Mary Laufersweiler. His father, Gus, who was born on the Hilton farm outside of Oslo, Norway, where relatives still live, emigrated to the United States. Conrad's mother was the daughter of a German-born merchant.
Conrad was educated at St. Michael's College (now the College of Santa Fe), and at the New Mexico School of Mines (now New Mexico Tech). In his early twenties, he was a representative in the first state legislature of the newly-formed State of New Mexico.
He entered the hotel business by buying the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in 1919. The first hotel he had built was the Dallas Hilton, which opened on August 2, 1925. He formed the Hilton Hotel Corporation in 1946. The company expanded into credit cards, car rentals, and other travel services.
Hilton had three wives, Mary Adelaide Barron (married 1925-divorced 1934), actress Zsa Zsa Gabor (married 1942-divorced 1947) and Mary Frances (married 1976).
He and Barron had three sons, Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr.(1926-1969); William Barron Hilton (born 1927); and Eric Michael Hilton (born 1932). He and Gabor had one daughter, Francesca Hilton (born 1947), who is the only child born to any of the three Gabor sisters.
Hilton's autobiography, Be My Guest, publised in 1957 by Prentiss Hall, is excellent reading for American History and Hospitality Management students alike.
He was a very successful businessman and an example of the prototypical American business tycoon. He ranks along with Ford (automobiles), Morgan (finance), Rockfeller (petroleum), Du Pont (armament and chemicals), Disney (entertainment), Hughes (airplanes), Stanford (railroads), Carnegie (steel), and Duke (tobacco).
Conrad Hilton died in Santa Monica, California at the age of ninety-one. He is interred at Calvary Hills Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.
His estate founded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. He left nothing to his children or other descendants, but his son, Barron Hilton, contested the will and won in 1988. The net worth of Barron, and his descendants, then jumped to over $335,000,000.