Barron Hilton passed away on September 20 at the age of 91, according to the Hilton Foundation. The hotel empire built by his father, Conrad Hilton, was inherited and developed by the millionaire, who also founded the Los Angeles Chargers and an early credit card company called Carte Blanche.
“The Hilton family mourns the loss of a remarkable man,” said Steven M. Hilton, Barron’s son and the board chairman of the Hilton Foundation. My father was a devoted husband to my mom, Marilyn; a fantastic example to his eight kids; a loyal friend; a successful businessman; a revered leader; and an avid sports fan.
He had an exciting, eventful life and achieved remarkable things. Barron Hilton prepared his will and other legal documents well before his death. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was the recipient of his 2007 commitment of 97% of his fortune.
According to the press release, his donation will bring the total value of the foundation’s endowment to $6.3 billion, up from $2.9 billion previously. With that kind of money, Barron Hilton becomes the organization’s single largest donor.
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What was Barron Hilton’s Net Worth?
At the time of his death in 2019, American businessman and socialite Barron Hilton was valued at $4.5 billion. Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels, was the father of Barron Hilton. Barron became a part of the family business in the 1950s and took it to new heights.
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Barron’s foresight in the 1970s led to the acquisition of the properties that would become the Las Vegas Hilton and the Flamingo Hotel which are now the primary contributors to the family fortune.
In 1979, Conrad Hilton passed away, leaving nearly all of his fortune to his charity while giving his son Barron the opportunity to buy out his stake in the Hilton Hotel Corporation. Barron was successful in court despite opposition from the nonprofit.
Barron secured a deal that gave him 4 million shares in the family business. In 2000, for almost $20 billion, private equity giant Blackstone purchased Hilton.His grandchildren Nicky and Paris Hilton. Baron was a pioneer of the National Football League and a pilot.
Paris Losing Its Inheritance
From 1947 until her death in 2004, Barron was married to Marilyn June Hawley. There were two girls and six boys born to them. Barron had planned to bequeath his multibillion dollar fortune to his loved ones when he passed away throughout most of his adult life.
Barron’s grandchild Paris apparently caused him great embarrassment. Everything associated with the Hilton family has tarnished their reputation, from the sex tape to the horrible reality series.
Accordingly, in 2007, Conrad revised his will to exclude his relatives and give the vast majority of his fortune to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Instead of inheriting $190 million each, about two dozen people will now share 3% of $4.5 billion. At $5.6 million, that comes to a total of $135 million.
Barron Hilton Profession
Even though his father invited him to join the family business after the war, he declined. Instead, he went to the USC Aeronautical School after being discharged from the military to get his twin-engine rating when he was just 19 years old.
After that, Hilton worked for a number of businesses, including a distributor of fruit juice. In addition to establishing one of the first airplane leasing companies in the country with Air Finance Corporation, he also bought the Los Angeles area distributorship for Vita-Pakt Citrus Products and co-founded MacDonald Oil Company.
Professional Football Championship
Hilton was given the Los Angeles franchise in the American Football League by Lamar Hunt in 1959. He agreed, and the club is now known as the Chargers. Since moving to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1960, the Chargers have struggled to attract fans away from the Rams.
In 1961, the club relocated to Balboa Stadium in San Diego. Jack Murphy Stadium, now called Qualcomm Stadium, was built in large part due to Hilton’s efforts. He was instrumental in the 1966 merger of the AFL and NFL, which led to the birth of the Super Bowl.
In 1966, as he began to play a more significant position at Hilton, he divested himself of his Chargers ownership. He received $10 million for his share sale. He was the last surviving member of the Foolish Club, the nickname the American Football League’s owners gave themselves when they tried to take on the NFL.
Career with Hilton
The franchise operations of Hilton Hotels were under Baron’s watchful eye after he was elected Vice President of the firm in 1954. Hilton also offers its most dedicated clients the Carte Blanche credit card.
Over time, he rose through the ranks and is now the President and CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton, in this position, continued his father’s vision for the hotel chain’s growth and modernization.
Who Is The Wife Of Barron Hilton?
Tessa Hilton, formerly Tessa Gräfin von Walderdorff, is the wife of socialite Barron Hilton II. In 2016, while vacationing in the Caribbean, they happened to run into each other in a restaurant on the island of St. Barts. New Year’s Eve was spent there by Barron and Tessa.
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Next, in September 2017, Barron proposed to Tessa, and Tessa rushed to Instagram to announce the happy news alongside a beautiful photo of the couple kissing and the message, “Better than a fairytale… engaged to my best friend, my soul mate, the love of my life.
Always and forever. After dating for some time, the couple tied the knot on June 1, 2018, back in the Caribbean. Tessa Hilton is a member of a German royal family.
Tessa Hilton and Barron Hilton II are parents of two young Hiltons. People report that in March of 2020, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Milou. Caspian, their first child, was born to the happy couple in September of 2022.