Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

representative in the first

New Mexico Legislature The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate. History The N ...

, but became disillusioned with the "inside deals" of politics. He purchased his first hotel in 1919 for $40,000, the

Mobley Hotel The Mobley Hotel is a historic hotel located in Cisco, Texas. It was the first hotel owned by Conrad Hilton, founder of Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and reso ...

Cisco, Texas Cisco is a city in Eastland County, Texas, Eastland County, Texas. The population was 3,899 at the time of the 2010 census. History Cisco, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Interstate 20 in northwestern Eastland County, traces its his ...

, which capitalized on the oil boom. The rooms were rented out in 8 hour shifts. He continued to buy and sell hotels and eventually established the world's first international hotel chain. When he died in 1979, he left the bulk of his estate to the

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is an American non-profit charitable foundation, established in 1944 by hotel entrepreneur Conrad Hilton. It remained relatively small until his death on January 3, 1979, when it was named the principal beneficiary ...

Early life

Hilton was born in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, in what was then the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...

, to Norwegian-born Augustus Halvorsen Hilton (1854–1919) and Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler. He attended the Goss Military Academy (since renamed as the New Mexico Military Institute) and St. Michael's College (later called the Santa Fe University of Art and Design), and the New Mexico School of Mines (now

New Mexico Tech The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech and formerly New Mexico School of Mines) is a public university in Socorro, New Mexico. It offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in technology, the sciences, engineering, man ...

). From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a

representative in the first

, when the state was newly formed. Hilton became frustrated with the "bureaucracy, slowness, cheating, lying, and inside deals of politics", and in 1916 he refused to run for a fourth term, instead endorsing his longtime political ally,

Quianu Robinson Quianu Robinson (1852-1919) was a New Mexican politician who served as a Republican member of the New Mexico House of Representatives representing the second district of New Mexico from 1916 to 1918. Early career Prior to his election, Robins ...

He served two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. After completing Officer Training School, he became a second lieutenant and served in Paris in the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στ� ...

. While Conrad was in France with the army after the war, his father was killed in a car accident."Be My Guest" by Conrad Hilton, copyright 1958 by the Prentice Hall Press The most enduring influence to shape Hilton's philanthropic philosophy beyond that of his parents was the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and his sisters. He credited his mother with guiding him to prayer and the church whenever he was troubled or dismayed—from the boyhood loss of a beloved pony to severe financial losses during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. His mother continually told him that prayer was the best investment he would ever make.

Career

As a young boy, Hilton developed entrepreneurial skills working at his father's general store in

Socorro County, New Mexico Socorro County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,866. The county seat is Socorro. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties of New Mexico Territory. Socorro w ...

, which was partially converted into a 10-room hotel.''The Handbook of Texas Online'' (Texas State Historical Association)
This was followed by varied experiences, including a stint as a representative in New Mexico's first State Legislature and a career decision to become a banker. Conrad_Hilton's_Mobley_Hotel,_Cisco,_TX_IMG_6403

Conrad_Hilton's_Mobley_Hotel,_Cisco,_TX_IMG_6403

It was with the intention of buying a bank that he arrived in Texas at the height of the

Texas oil boom The Texas oil boom, sometimes called the gusher age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in the U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large oil reserve, petroleum reserve near Beaum ...

. He bought his first hotel instead, the 40-room Mobley Hotel in

, in 1919, when a bank purchase fell through. The hotel did such brisk business that rooms changed hands as often as three times a day, and the dining room was converted into additional rooms to meet the demand.Associated Press. "Modest Inn at Cisco Began Hotel String of Conrad Hilton," ''Big Spring Daily Herald'', November 21, 1963, p. 12-A. He went on to buy and build hotels throughout Texas, including the highrise

Dallas Hilton The Dallas Hilton, constructed as the Hilton Hotel and today operating as the Hotel Indigo Dallas Downtown, is a historic hotel opened in 1925, located at the corner of Main Street and S. Harwood Street in downtown Dallas, Texas ( USA). The ho ...

, opened in 1925; the Abilene Hilton in 1927; Waco Hilton in 1928; and El Paso Hilton in 1930. The first hotel outside of Texas that Hilton built was in 1939 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

. Today it is known as the

Hotel Andaluz Hotel Andaluz is a historic high-rise hotel in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It opened in 1939 as the Hilton Hotel, part of the Hilton Hotels chain. After operating under various names since the 1970s, the hotel was renovated and reopened unde ...

. During the

, Hilton was nearly forced into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

and lost several of his hotels. Nevertheless, he was retained as manager of a combined chain, and eventually regained control of his remaining eight hotels. Over the next decade, he expanded west to California and east to Chicago and New York, crowning his expansions with such acquisitions as the Stevens Hotel in Chicago (then the world's largest hotel, it was renamed the Conrad Hilton), and the fabled

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

in New York. He formed the

Hilton Hotels Corporation Hilton Worldwide (legally Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.) is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the corporation is now led by ...

in 1946, and Hilton International Company in 1948. During the 1950s and 1960s, Hilton Hotels' worldwide expansion facilitated both American tourism and overseas business by American corporations. It was the world's first international hotel chain, at the same time establishing a certain worldwide standard for hotel accommodations. In 1954, Hilton Hotels bought The Hotels Statler Company, Inc., for $111 million, then the world's largest real estate transaction. In all, Hilton eventually owned 188 hotels in 38 cities in the U.S., including the

Mayflower Hotel The Mayflower Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square (one block north of the Farragut North Metro station). The hotel is managed by the Autograph Col ...

in Washington, D.C., the

Palmer House The Palmer House – A Hilton Hotel is a historic hotel in Chicago's Loop area. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Palmer House was the city's first hotel with elevator ...

in Chicago, and the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

and Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, along with 54 hotels abroad. He later purchased the

Carte Blanche A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...

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 The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic univers ...

(1953),

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

(1954),

Barat College Barat College of the Sacred Heart was a small Catholic college located in Lake Forest, Illinois, north of Chicago. The college was named after Madeleine Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Barat College was purchased by D ...

(1955),

Adelphi College Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher edu ...

(1957),

Sophia University Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...

, Tokyo (1963), and the

University of Albuquerque The University of Albuquerque was a Catholic liberal arts university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which opened in 1920 and closed in 1986. Its former campus on Albuquerque's West Side now houses St. Pius X High School. History The institution was ...

(1975). Hilton's autobiography, ''Be My Guest'', was published in 1958 by

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari ...

. In 1966, Hilton was succeeded as president by his son Barron and was elected

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

Personal life

In 1925, Hilton married Mary Adelaide Barron (1906–1966). They had three children,

Conrad Hilton Jr. Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr. (July 6, 1926 – February 5, 1969) was an American socialite, hotel heir, and businessman. He was the eldest son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and the first husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor. Life an ...

Barron Hilton William Barron Hilton (October 23, 1927 – September 19, 2019) was an American business magnate, philanthropist and sportsman. The second son and successor of hotelier Conrad Hilton, he was the chairman, president and chief executive officer of ...

and Eric Hilton, before divorcing in 1934. In 1942, Hilton married actress

Zsa Zsa Gabor Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she ...

. They had one child,

Francesca Hilton Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton (March 10, 1947 – January 5, 2015) was an actress and comedian who was the only child of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his second wife, actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor. Early life and family Hi ...

, before divorcing in 1947. Gabor wrote in her 1991 autobiography ''One Lifetime Is Not Enough'' that she became pregnant by Hilton only after he raped her during their marriage. Their daughter Francesca died in 2015, at age 67, from a stroke. In 1976, Hilton married Mary Frances Kelly. Their marriage lasted until his death three years later in 1979. Hilton bought Casa Encantada on 10644 Bellagio Road in

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Univers ...

, in 1950 and occupied the house until his death in 1979. Hilton described his enchantment with the house as "...a case of love at first sight...I couldn't resist it, one of the fabulous houses of the world". He renamed the property the Casa Encantada ("enchanted house"). On January 3, 1979, Hilton died of natural causes at the age of 91. He was interred at Calvary Hill Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. He left US$500,000 () to his two surviving sons, US$100,000 () to his daughter Francesca, and US$10,000 () to each of his nieces and nephews.

Hilton family fortune

In 1969, James C. Taylor presented plans to build a hospitality college on the campus of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. Barron then presented the plans to Hilton, who donated US$1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) for the completion of the project. The

Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management The Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership (Hilton College) is a college at the University of Houston, a public research university in Houston, Texas, focused on hospitality. It is one of 13 academic colleges at the university ...

opened to students in September 1969. The bulk of his estate was left to the

, which he established in 1944. His son,

, who spent much of his career helping build the Hilton Hotels Corporation, contested the will, despite having 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 A charitable remainder unitrust (known as a "CRUT") is an irrevocable trust created under the authority of the United States Internal Revenue Code ("Code"). This special, irrevocable trust has two primary characteristics: (1) Once established, th ...

. Upon Barron Hilton's death, Unitrust assets were transferred to the Hilton Foundation, of which Barron previously served on the Board of Directors as Chairman. In 1983, the Hilton Foundation donated US$21.3 million (equivalent to $ million in ) to expand facilities and increase endowment. That gift led to the construction of the South Wing, which opened in 1989 and added of education and meeting space to Hilton College. On December 25, 2007, Barron Hilton announced that he would leave about 97% of his fortune, then estimated at US$2.36 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ), to a charitable unitrust that would eventually be merged with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. By leaving his estate to the Foundation, Barron not only donated the fortune he had amassed on his own, but also returned to the

the Hilton family fortune amassed by his father, which otherwise would have gone to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation 30 years earlier, had Barron not contested his father's will.Conrad Hilton. The Philanthropy Hall of Fame. Retrieved from http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/hall_of_fame/conrad_hilton.

Legacy

* The

was established in 1944 by Conrad N. Hilton. Its mission is the alleviation of human suffering worldwide. *

Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is an American non-profit charitable foundation, established in 1944 by hotel entrepreneur Conrad Hilton. It remained relatively small until his death on January 3, 1979, when it was named the principal beneficia ...

created in 1996 by The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. * The Conrad N. Hilton College is a hospitality college of the

named after Conrad Hilton. * The Conrad N. Hilton Library at the Hyde Park campus of the Culinary Institute of America. * 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 Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

. * In 2009, actor

Chelcie Ross Chelcie Claude RossAccording to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records ...

played the role of Conrad "Connie" Hilton in the television show ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' for 6 episodes.

Autobiographies

* ''Be My Guest: Autobiography of Conrad Hilton'' (Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1958) * ''Inspirations of an Innkeeper'' (privately printed, 1963)

Citations

General sources

* Alef, Daniel. ''Conrad N. Hilton: Reveled in Hotel Deals'' (Titans of Fortune Publishing, 2009) * 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) * Dabney, Thomas Ewing. ''The Man Who Bought the Waldorf: The Life of Conrad N. Hilton'' (Duell Sloan & Pearce, 1950) * Oppenheimer, Jerry. ''House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege'' (Three Rivers Press. 2007) * Hilton, Conrad N. ''Be My Guest'' (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1958)

External links

Biography: Conrad Hilton, The Innkeeper to The World
(Video)
Conrad N. Hilton College at University of Houston

Conrad Hilton's Secret of Success

(''

New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'', 1949) * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080926173206/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896912-1,00.html Innkeeper to the World(''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'', 1963)
The Key Man
(''Time'', 1949)

(''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!'', 2007)
Mad Men: See the Real Conrad Hilton
�� image slideshow by ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

''
Conrad N. Hilton early life in New Mexico
, - !colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;", Husband of a Gabor sister {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Conrad 1887 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American autobiographers American hoteliers American people of German descent American people of Norwegian descent American real estate businesspeople American socialites Catholics from New Mexico Conrad Hilton family Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels Hilton Worldwide Republican Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology alumni New Mexico Military Institute alumni People from Socorro, New Mexico Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows Santa Fe University of Art and Design alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I