Today, the Hilton family are most famous for the hotel chain that bears their name. Since selling it in 2007, however, they’ve kept a relatively low profile. So this begs the question, what is the Hilton family net worth today?
Within only a few decades of immigrating to the US, the Hilton family established themselves as one of the most important hotel dynasties in the US, routinely facing off against J. Willard Marriott’s Marriott International.
Who Are The Hilton Family?
Before we can truly look at the Hilton Family net worth, we need to understand who they are, and how they rose to such prominence in only a few decades…
Origins of The Family
Despite sounding quite English in origin, the Hilton surname is actually both English and Norwegian origin. For the Hilton family we’re all familiar with, they’re actually of Norwegian origin.
Having lived in the small village of Hilton near the town of Kløfta, Ullensaker, Akerhus, Norway for centuries, the family that eventually became Hilton Hotel dynasty began using the “Hilton” name to signify where their family had come from.
Being born and bred there for centuries, the family eventually moved to the nearby town of Kløfta, where Augustus “Gus” Halvorson (sometimes spelled Halvorsen) Hilton was born on August 21 1854.
Eventually immigrating to the US in 1870, Hilton married American-born Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler on February 12 1885 and settled in San Antonio, then in the New Mexico Territory.
To support his family and have his true American Dream, Gus Hilton opened a general store in the city center.
Diversifying his business, Gus converted part of his store that he wasn’t using into a ten-room hotel, with the two businesses building of one another’s success.
It was here where Gus’s eldest son, Conrad Hilton, was born on Christmas Day 1887. Growing up as the eldest son, it was expected that Conrad would help out at his father’s business.
Whilst he sometimes worked in the general store, a young Conrad mostly helped out at the hotel, a sign of things to come…
First Hotel
After a short-lived career as a member of the first New Mexico State Legislature (New Mexico became a state in 1912, with Conrad serving until 1916) and a brief stint in the US Army during WWI, Conrad Hilton returned home determined to go into business.
Taking over his father’s shop after his death in 1919, Conrad soon sold it, raised some money and intended to buy a bank. Arriving in Texas at the height of the oil boom, Conrad attempted to buy the bank in the center of Cisco, Texas.
Eventually, Conrad and the bank owner agreed on a price, only for the bank owner to increase it at the last minute. Angered by what had just happened, Conrad stormed off from negotiations, soon walking into the nearby Mobley Hotel to get a room.
Despite having to wait a few hours for a room to be prepared (as business was booming for the hotel and there simply weren’t any room available), Conrad was impressed by what he saw and decided to enter the hotels business instead.
After inspecting the hotel’s books, Conrad offered to purchase the 40-room Mobley Hotel whilst he was still staying there.
Offering the owner $35,000 ($600,000 adjusted for inflation) for the bank, he accepted and Conrad Hilton officially became the proud owner of the Mobley Hotel in late 1919.
Although business had been booming under its previous owner, slight alterations made by Conrad, such as the addition of a newsstand and small general store (selling basic travel necessities like toothbrushes) made business boom even more.
Soon becoming one of the largest hotels in the county, Conrad chose to convert the hotel’s restaurant into additional rooms.
These rooms brought in more profit than the restaurant ever did, mostly due to the abundance of local restaurants with larger menus, better food and lower prices than the restaurant at the Mobley.
Expansion
Continuing to grow in popularity, Hilton made his initial investment of $35,000 back, and soon had enough money to begin expanding to other locations.
Expanding to other cities in Texas, Conrad bought the struggling Melba Hotel in Forth Worth and the Waldorf Hotel in Dallas. Implementing the same things that had made the Mobley so successful, Conrad now had three highly profitable hotels in Texas.
Further expansion occurred in August 1924, when Conrad began construction of what was to become the Hilton Hotel (now the Dallas Hilton), the first of Conrad’s hotels to bear the now-famous Hilton name. The hotel opened in July 1925.
Quickly followed by other hotels like the Abilene Hilton (1927), Waco Hilton (1928) and El Paso Hilton (1930), Conrad had a literal hotel empire within the state of Texas, earning him the moniker of “The Hotel King” which stayed with him for the rest of his life.
Despite opening a new location in 1930, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 wrought havoc on Hilton’s empire. With very few people having any money to travel and stay in fancy hotels like the ones Conrad owned, his business soon started to fail.
Indeed, to keep himself from going bankrupt, Conrad was forced to sell many of the Hilton-branded hotels he’d spent the last decade building. As much as this pained Conrad to do, it was necessary and allowed Hilton Hotels to survive.
Reconstruction And Continued Expansion
Although his business was on the ropes in the 1930’s, nearing the end of the decade things started to look up. Whilst the world was nowhere near back to normal, people were beginning to travel and stay in hotels more, which helped Conrad no end.
In fact, before the decade was over, Conrad had reacquired his lost hotels.
By 1938, Conrad was even beginning to expand his empire once again, acquiring the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco and building his first out-of-state hotel (that bore the Hilton name) in Albuquerque, in his home state of New Mexico.
Opened as the Hilton Hotel, the hotel is now called the Hotel Andaluz and is still operating today and is still owned by Hilton!
Following that, Hilton acquired the Stevens Hotel in Chicago (renamed the Conrad Hilton Hotel, and later, the Hilton Chicago), giving him ownership of the largest hotel in the US at the time.
Beyond that, Hilton also acquired the Plaza Hotel in New York, in 1943 and the Palmer House in Chicago, in 1945.
After completing these deals, Conrad Hilton formally incorporated Hilton Hotels, Inc. in 1946 after having run it as a sole proprietorship. From here, Conrad acquired more hotels, before expanding internationally after incorporating Hilton International Company in 1948.
Acquiring hotels like the Mayflower Hotel (1947) and Waldorf-Astoria (1949), Hilton continued to build more ones, whilst also acquiring new ones overseas, in the capital cities of countries like the UK, France and Spain.
By the time Conrad Hilton died on January 3 1979, his hotel chain encompassed 185 hotels in the US, and a further 75 hotels in foreign countries, primarily in Europe, Canada and Australasia/Oceania.
Second Generation
Having been married three times, Conrad had a total of four children, three sons and one daughter.
The eldest, Conrad Hilton Jr., was born on July 6 1929 and became a heavy drinker. His claim to fame was his short-lived marriage to actress Elizabeth Taylor from 1950 to 1951, before dying of an alcoholism-related heart attack in 1959.
Due to this, Conrad Jr. never joined the company his father built. Conrad’s second and third sons, Barron and Eric, on the other hand, did join the family business.
Joining his father’s business in 1949, Eric Hilton worked his way up the company, starting off as a bellman before being promoted all the way to the top, to become the manager of the Deshler Hilton in Columbus, Ohio in 1959.
Due to his success at the Deshler, Eric was promoted by his father to manager of the Shamrock Hilton in Texas, in 1961. Later, he became the company’s executive vice president and served on the board of directors.
His brother, Barron, however, got into Hilton Hotels slightly differently. Wanting to hone his business acumen, Barron started a number of businesses, such as an oil exploration company and one of the world’s first aircraft leasing businesses.
Both businesses (alongside a few others) were wildly successful, before Barron sold them. Joining his family business in 1954, he brought years of business knowledge his brother didn’t have, and was named as vice-president of the company.
Managing the franchise operations, Barron came up with the idea for a company credit card line for customers.
Called Carte Blanche, his father spent years of his life and millions of dollars marketing it, with the card ultimately proving unsuccessful.
At 79 years old, in 1966, Conrad Hilton officially retired from the day-to-day operations of the company he founded. Naming his second eldest son, Barron, as his successor, Barron became chairman, president and CEO of Hilton Hotels.
Eric, on the other hand, became vice-president in 1993, serving until his retirement in 1997.
Under the brother’s leadership, Hilton Hotels continued to expand, adding more locations across the US and the world as a whole.
By 2007, 40 years after Conrad had given control of the business to his sons, Hilton had grown from 260 locations worldwide, to a total of 2,800 in 76 countries!
Third Generation
Unlike previous generations, the third generation were not too interested in working for the family business.
As one of the largest hotel chains on the planet (only really contending with Hyatt, Marriott International and IHG Hotels & Resorts) they knew that they wouldn’t be able to prove their value to the company – they’d just be given a fancy job due to their last name.
Instead of joining the company, many of them went out alone and started their own businesses.
Whilst they didn’t have to bootstrap their business like other entrepreneurs do due to their immense fortune, it still wasn’t easy for them, with them not using the immense business resources that Hilton Hotels had at their disposal.
And that was probably for the best. In 2007, the second generation helped investment management company The Blackstone Group acquire a controlling share in Hilton Hotels for a total of $26 billion.
As only part owners of the family business, various members of the family received differing amounts based on the percentage of the business they owned.
Following the sale, those who owned their own businesses continued running those businesses, whilst those who didn’t finding work in the family’s charitable foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Fourth Generation And Rise to Fame
Prior to the birth of the fourth generation, the Hilton Hotel chain was already a household name. Anyone who was anyone had at least heard of Hilton, if not stayed in one of their locations!
Yet, the birth of the fourth generation was different than the births of previous generations. Whilst previous generations had seen Conrad Hilton, and his son, Barron, build the empire from scratch, the fourth generation hadn’t.
Growing up in the lap of luxury, the fourth generation became socialites in every sense of the word.
Members of previous generations had also been socialites, but this was only to further the family business, but for the fourth generation, it was a lifestyle.
Being socialites from young ages, members of the fourth generation (most notably Paris Hilton, and her sister, Nicky) soon became celebrities due to their position in high society.
Constantly followed by the paparazzi, members of the fourth generation (usually Paris) were constantly in the tabloids for various escapades, such as a 2003 sex tape and various run-ins at high-end nightclubs.
Not only did this cause embarrassment for those members of the family, but the family as a whole. But it wasn’t just that. The fourth generation’s position in high society caused the press to investigate other members of the family too.
In turn, this led to tabloid newspapers and magazines writing articles that covered the family. Having once been relatively unknown – yes, people knew their name, but not what they looked like – people now knew who they were and what they looked like.
Today
Fortunately, public opinion is beginning to turn against those members of the family who seem to be “famous for being famous”, with Paris Hilton in particular consistently ranking as one of the most overrated and overexposed celebrities in the world.
Due to this, media scrutiny on the family as a whole is beginning to decrease, much to the delight of many older members of the family.
This has, in turn, allowed many members of the family to focus on their individual businesses without having to worry about overeager journalists looking over their shoulder. In recent years, many more businesses have been started by various members of the family.
Beyond their continued involvement with various business, several members of the fourth generation have had their own children over the last decade or so, thus creating a fifth generation of the family.
In 2016, Nicky Hilton had her first child with her husband, James Rothschild. The child, a daughter, was given the name Lily-Grace Victoria Rothschild. The following year, a second daughter, Theodora “Teddy” Marilyn Rothschild was born to the couple.
Beyond them, Nicky’s younger brother, Barron Nicholas Hilton II, has also had a daughter, together with his wife, Tessa Gräfin von Walderdorff. Born in March 2020, the girl was given the name Milou Alizée Hilton.
As they’re only children, it’s hard to predict what they’ll do to further (or destroy) the family. Only time will tell.
Philanthropy
In 1944, Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton established the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to give back to the community.
Although a relatively small organization with only a few employees during his lifetime, when Conrad died in 1979, he left the bulk of his estate to the foundation in his will. In turn, this allowed it to expand monumentally.
Whilst a lot of the foundation’s donation was later given to Barron Hilton due to a court ruling, Barron himself would donate the majority of his estate to the foundation upon his own death in 2019.
Much like other charities, the foundation focuses on specific areas, with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation focusing on seven main issues according to its mission statement:
- Catholic sisters
- Disaster relief and recovery
- Foster youth
- Homelessness
- Hospitality workforce development
- Safe water
- Young children affected by HIV and AIDS
Since its inception, several members of the family have worked there, chief among them being Steven M. Hilton, a member of the third generation, whose never worked for Hilton Hotels, instead spending his entire life working at the foundation.
Growing it from a small operation giving out only $6 million grants a year, to one giving out $100 million in grants. During his tenure, the foundation has given out a total of $1.4 billion to nonprofits!
The main reason Steven has been able to do this is thanks to an increase in available funds (thanks to donations from both his grandfather, Conrad, and his father, Barron) as well as them strategically investing it with several wealth managers to make their money make money.
Hilton Family Net Worth ($1 Billion)
All in all, the Hilton family net worth currently sits at $1 billion as of the time of writing. This makes the family one of the richest in the world, even if they are nearer the bottom of that list (although it’s still more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime!)
However, this is not the height of their wealth, even in recent years.
Today, the family may be worth a measly $1 billion (granted, that’s not chump change) but at one point, the family was worth in excess of $5 billion in 2019.
Prior to his death one September 19 2019, Barron Hilton controlled around 34% of the company his father founded. This 34% stake was valued at $3.5 billion, with Barron having investments from his other businesses worth a further $1 billion.
Disappointed with how his grandchildren’s behavior, primarily with Paris’s 2003 sex tape and Conrad Hughes Hilton’s numerous arrests and DUIs, Barron chose to cut all of them out of his will entirely.
Instead of some distant relative inheriting it all, Barron chose to donate 97% of his estate to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation established by his father. The remaining three percent was inherited by his children.
As the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is still under the control of the Hilton family, with members of the family getting the ultimate say-so on decisions, it can’t be counted as a part of their wealth as they can’t use the charity’s funds for their own means.
Where Does This Wealth Come From?
That’s all well and good, but that number on its own doesn’t necessarily mean anything. As such, we’ll need to look at the sources of their wealth…
Hilton Hotels Group (don’t own it anymore, sold it used cash
Having been the family that founded the company and grew it for nearly 100 years, the Hilton family held large control over Hilton Hotels, which provided them with the majority of their wealth for decades.
Despite this, when Blackstone came knocking in 2007, the family saw an opportunity to sell their business for a lot more than they thought it was worth.
Selling their shares to Blackstone, those family members who owned shares in the company received large sums of cash for their shares.
But it wasn’t just the various individuals who received lump sums, so did the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, who owned 3.5 million shares in the company.
Receiving this large lump sum, the Hiltons turned their assets in liquidity and put it elsewhere, mainly the bank.
In turn, this money has been used to buy various other assets, ranging from real estate, to shares in other companies, to vehicles to more! Over time, the value of these investments has compounded and increased in value considerably.
Hilton & Hyland
Born as the sixth eldest of eight children to Barron Hilton, Richard Hilton is a member of the third generation. Much like his siblings and cousins, Richard never entered the family business. However, he did enter business.
Getting his first job in the New York office of Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment banking firm, Richard was first exposed to the world of real estate.
Infatuated with the industry, Richard soon became of Eastdil’s star employees, specializing in bringing institutional investors and pension funds together on a wide range of different products.
In 1984, Richard left Eastdil and established his own business, which he called Hilton Realty Investment, to own his various projects. Applying for his real estate brokers license, it was granted on November 29 that same year.
Partnering with Jeffrey Hyland to form Hilton & Hyland, the pair received their commercial real estate license in 1993.
With a focus on luxury real estate development, Hilton & Hyland target the people that Richard grew up with, such as successful businessmen, celebrities and Old Money elites.
Having grown to well over 100 salesmen, several of them have been featured on real estate-related TV shows, most notably Million Dollar Listing. In 2007, they recorded a turnover of slightly more than $3.5 billion.
More recently, Hilton & Hyland gained worldwide media attention for the world’s first ten-figure piece of real estate, making it one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the world!
Acceleron Digital
Having been given one of the best educations in the world, Justin Hawley McAuliffe, a grandson of Barron Hilton via his mother Hawley Anne Hilton, chose to enter the family profession by becoming a businessman.
Working with a number of start-ups, Justin soon started his own business in 2012, at the age of 25.
This business, a digital marketing agency he called Acceleron Digital, is headquartered in New York City, the company caters specifically to start-ups.
Focusing on web development and online promotions, Justin has worked with the Ready, Set , Travel brand to produce and market an airport security-friendly toiletry kit for travelers.
Sadly, as a privately held company, it’s difficult to estimate the value of Acceleron Digital as their financials aren’t public record as they are with publicly listed companies.
Despite this, several sources indicate that the company has between one and 10 employees (with one source indicating three employees) and an estimated profit of $180,000, valuing the business at just shy of $500,000 per normal valuing techniques.
Clothing Lines, Jewelry And Perfume Businesses
Beyond just being famous celebrities and socialites, both Paris and Nicky Hilton have attempted to capitalize on their name recognition like other celebrities have by starting their own business.
In 2004, Paris partnered with perfume company, Parlux, to make a Hilton-branded perfume. Eventually increasing Parlux sales by almost 50%, Paris eventually began producing her own perfumes.
Under various names and sold in various different stores, ranging from middle-of-the market stores to high-end ones, Paris has made a fortune since then, selling billions of dollars worth of perfume.
That same year, Paris’s younger sister, Nicky, set up her own clothing line too. Similarly proving to be extremely popular due to the name that’s associated with it (more on that in a minute), Nicky has made clothes and handbags that have taken the world by storm.
Unlike her sister, Paris, who has tried to cater to everyone, Nicky’s clothing brand is slightly more upscale, with the average piece costing $200, with most costing a lot more.
Expanding out of just clothing, Nicky has also produced a makeup line, most notably a lipstick brand inspired by her three favorite cities (London, New York and Los Angeles).
As with her other businesses, Nicky’s lipstick brand has proven to be extremely successful too!
Branding
Whether you like them or not, Hilton family members like Kathy, Nicky and Paris Hilton are quite well known, being instantly recognizable.
As a famous actress, socialite and fashion designer, Kathy Hilton’s name and face would be very valuable to a company looking for a brand ambassador or model.
The same can also be said for her daughters, Nicky and Paris.
Whilst primarily a model (besides being a businesswoman), Nicky Hilton has similarly spent years marketing herself as a young, beautiful woman who could be the brand ambassador for your fashion brand, or for your company.
And then there’s Paris. Unlike her mother and sister, she hasn’t had to market herself, the publicity has come to her. Known as an “it girl”, Paris has spent the last 20 years directly in the public eye, being “famous for being famous” as some have put it.
Regardless, her career as a singer, model and actress have made it so most people know who she is, even if they don’t like her.
For this reason, Paris’s brand is arguably the most valuable of any member of the family. Indeed, even as her fame is beginning to wane, companies are still literally tripping over themselves to get her to work for them.
Despite not being tangible in the same sense that their others businesses are, they do need to be factored in when it comes to establishing the Hilton family net worth, as the family has spent over 100 years marketing their last name for this very purpose!
Rothschild Family
In 2011, Nicky Hilton began dating financier James Rothschild, a member of the British branch of the Rothschild banking dynasty. The couple became engaged whilst on vacation at Lake Como, Italy in August 2014 and married on July 10 2015.
As a member of the Rothschild family, Nicky, together with her husband, James, likely owns shares in most of the Rothschild-controlled businesses, such as James’s uncle’s RIT Capital Partners, Rothschild & Co and the Edmond de Rothschild Group.
We say “likely” because we don’t know for sure.
Having been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for over two centuries, mostly due to their wealth, the family as a whole has chosen to hide their wealth through a myriad of shell companies owned by each family member.
For all we know, the Rothschilds are broke, or are worth trillions.
Whilst great for protecting their finances, it means that we don’t actually know whether or not Nicky Hilton Rothschild (related to the Hilton family by birth, and the Rothschild family by marriage) and her husband actually own any stock, or how valuable it is.
Despite this, most financial analysts and forensic accountants who specialize in the Rothschild family’s finances agree that it’s almost certain James and Nicky Hilton Rothschild own stock in various Rothschild family companies through shell companies.
It’s just a matter of how much. Some say it’s as little as $5 million, others say it’s nearly $30 million!
What do you think of the Hilton family net worth? How are you going to replicate what they did? Tell me in the comments!
