CONRAD HILTON Biography - Bussiness people and enterpreneurs

 
 

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CONRAD HILTON

  Born: 25 December 1887                                                             
  Birthplace: San Antonio, New Mexico Territory (now New Mexico)                     
  Died: 3 January 1979                                                               
  Best Known As: Founder of Hilton Hotels                                             
Name at birth: Conrad Nicholson Hilton                                               
Conrad Hilton founded the international chain of business hotels which bear his       
name. He bought his first hotel in 1919, and founded the first so-named Hilton       
Hotel in 1925 in Dallas, Texas. Hilton Hotels grew into the first coast-to-coast     
hotel chain, placing a special emphasis on the business traveller, and Hilton         
became one of the world's wealthiest men. He also purchased other prestigious         
inns, including the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco, New York's                   
Waldorf-Astoria, and the Palmer House in Chicago. Hilton's son Barron followed       
him as head of the company, which by the year 2000 had nearly 500 hotels around       
the world. Conrad Hilton died in 1979, leaving the bulk of his estate to his         
philanthropic organization, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. He also endowed the     
Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of     
Houston. His 1957 autobiography was titled Be My Guest.                               
Hilton had three sons by his first wife, Mary Barron: Conrad, Jr.; William           
Barron; and Eric Michael... He had a daughter, Francesca, with his second wife,       
the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor (married 1942-47)... Hilton's son Conrad Jr. ("Nicky")     
was the first husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor; the couple were married from       
1950-51... Hilton is the great-grandfather of party girls Paris and Nicky             
Hilton.