Barron Hilton, who furthered his father Conrad’s hotel legacy, died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Barron joined Hilton Hotels in the early 1950s, became a vice president in 1954 and then rose to president and chief executive in 1966. He became chairman in 1979 when his father died and oversaw the vast expansion of the hotel brand.
“Today the world of hospitality mourns for one of the greats,” current Hilton President and CEO Chris Nassetta said in a statement. “Barron Hilton was an incredible family man, business leader and philanthropist. From his leadership of our company for more than three decades, to the transformative work he led with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for many years, Barron was a man unlike any other. I always found inspiration in how he saw the tremendous potential of hospitality to change the world for the better – and in the unique and meaningful ways he sought to make that happen.”
Born in Dallas on October 23, 1927, Barron Hilton moved with his father, Conrad N. Hilton, to Los Angeles in 1937. As a teenager, Hilton worked at the Town House in Los Angeles, parking cars for hotel guests.
After attending the New Mexico Military Institute (the same academy his father attended), Hilton sought a waiver to allow him to enlist in the Navy at the age of 17, despite being underage. A skills assessment taken during basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes uncovered his abilities as an amateur photographer. His talents saw him deployed to Pearl Harbor as photographer’s mate in the I.D. lab, providing identification credentials for Naval personnel returning from the Pacific Theater in World War II.
During his deployment, Hilton fulfilled a childhood dream by taking flying lessons during his free time on Oahu, and earning his private pilot’s license. After his discharge, he returned to the mainland to attend the University of Southern California’s Aeronautical School where he earned his multi-engine rating. Flying would remain a passion throughout his adult life.
Hilton married his childhood sweetheart, Marilyn Hawley, in 1947, and together they started a large family of eight children.
Prior to joining the family business, Hilton spent two decades making a name for himself as an entrepreneur. He purchased the Los Angeles distributorship for Vita-Pakt Citrus Products and founded McDonald Oil Co., Air Finance Corp., the Carte Blanche Credit Card and the Chargers of the American Football League. The Chargers won five divisional titles and one AFL Championship during his six years as president of the club. He was also instrumental in forging the merger with the National Football League that created the Super Bowl.
In 1966, the board of Hilton Hotels Corp. asked him to succeed his father as president and chief executive officer, provided he relinquish his football responsibilities. He sold controlling interest in the club for US$10 million, a record at the time for any professional sports franchise. For the next 30 years, Barron Hilton was known for creating shareholder value and expanding through innovative real estate transactions, including franchising and a move into the Las Vegas gaming market. From 1966 to 1996, he transformed the company and generated an average annual rate of return to shareholders of 15% with dividends.
With his business acumen, Hilton helped grow his father’s 1979 bequest of US$160 million in Hilton stock into an endowment of more than US$2.9 billion to support the philanthropic work of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. In 2007, Hilton announced that, like his father, he would leave 97% of his wealth to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. This planned gift is projected to increase the foundation’s endowment from US$2.9 billion to $6.3 billion and will make Barron Hilton the organization’s most significant donor.
Following the sale of the hotel company in 2007, Barron Hilton accepted the chairmanship of the Hilton Foundation board, serving as chair until 2012. As a leader of the Foundation, he was particularly involved with policy matters and played a role similar to that of his father, Conrad. As a board member, he was extremely active in determining policy and direction for the Foundation, stepping down from this role in 2014 at the age of 87.
“The Hilton family mourns the loss of a remarkable man,” said Steven Hilton, Barron’s son and chairman of the board at the Hilton Foundation. “My father was a loving husband to our mother, Marilyn, a wonderful role model to his eight children, a loyal and generous friend, visionary businessman, respected leader and a passionate sportsman. He lived a life of great adventure and exceptional accomplishment.”