history of hilton family

The Hilton family is a successful American family founded by hotel magnate Conrad Hilton (1887-1979). His descendants continue to hold varying degrees of wealth and status as socialites, and some have become famous, such as great-granddaughter Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.

Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Hotels Corporation is one of the leading global hospitality companies. As of April 2007 there are 2,645 hotels and 485,000 rooms employing 105,000 people in more than 80 countries. The company owns, manages or franchises a portfolio of brands, including Hilton, Conrad Hotels, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Scandic by Hilton and The Waldorf-Astoria Collection. It was founded by Conrad Hilton in Cisco, Texas and now has headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.

Aiming to offer top class service to its guests, Hilton has become a leader in the hospitality industry. The company is around 5% owned by the founding family.

On July 3, 2007, Hilton announced plans to merge with the Blackstone Group in an all cash deal valued at $26 billion USD. The merger was completed on October 24, 2007.

The original company was founded in 1919 by Conrad Hilton.

The Hotels Statler Company was acquired in 1954 for $111,000,000 in what was then the world's largest real estate transaction.

The company separated its international operations into a separate traded company on December 1, 1964, known as Hilton International Co.. In 1967 Trans World Corp., the holding company for Trans World Airlines, acquired the separated company. In 1986 it was sold to UAL Corp., the holding company for United Airlines, who became Allegis Corp. in an attempt to re-incarnate itself as a full service travel company encompassing Westin Hotels and Hertz rental cars in addition to Hilton International and United Airlines. In 1987 after a corporate putsch, the renamed UAL Corp. sold Hilton International to Ladbroke Group plc, a British leisure and gambling company, which in May 1999 adopted the name Hilton Group plc.

As a result, there have been two separate, fully independent companies operating hotels under the Hilton name. Those Hilton Hotels outside the US were, until recently, styled as Hilton International hotels. In addition, for many years hotels run by the Hilton Group in the US were called Vista International Hotels, while hotels operated by the American arm of Hilton outside the US were named Conrad Hotels. The Vista chain has been phased out, while Conrad is now restyled as one of the luxury brands of Hilton (along with The Waldorf-Astoria Collection) and operates hotels within the US, as well as abroad. To minimize consumer confusion, the American and British Hilton companies, for the last few years, had a joint marketing agreement under which they share the same logos, promote each other's brands and maintained joint reservation systems.

In 1971, Hilton acquired International Leisure Company, acquiring the Las Vegas Hilton and Flamingo Hilton with the purchase.

HHC was granted the naming rights to the George R. Brown Convention Center in late 2003. The Hilton Americas in Downtown Houston, Texas, is connected to the convention center.

On December 29, 2005, Hilton Hotels Corporation agreed to re-acquire Hilton International along with its Conrad Hotels, Scandic Hotels and LivingWell Health Clubs affiliates from British-based Hilton Group plc for GBP 3.3 billion (or $5.71 billion) bringing the two groups back together. Hilton Group then re-assumed the name Ladbroke Group plc. On February 23, 2006, the deal closed, making Hilton Hotels the world's fifth largest hotel operator in number of rooms .

The Waldorf-Astoria Collection was announced on January 17, 2005 as a new Luxury Brand.
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebutante, businesswoman, singer, model, actress, author, and television personality.

Paris Hilton's best-known acting work is in the television series The Simple Life with her friend Nicole Richie. She has also appeared in several minor film roles, most notably in the horror film House of Wax in 2005. In 2006, she released her self-titled debut album Paris. As a result of several legal incidents, Hilton served a widely publicized sentence in a correctional institution in 2007.