It’s Just A Simple Life
For most people, the Hilton family gained global fame in the early 2000s when Paris Hilton emerged as a celebrated socialite and minor celebrity. However, the Hiltons’ wealth and prestige extend far beyond Paris and her little purse-bound chihuahua.
The story of the Hiltons spans generations and is marked by shocking twists and turns. So, buckle up, settle in, and let’s discover where the Hiltons came from, how they rose to power, and what secrets they have buried in their closets.
1. They Came From Abroad
Despite being established as an integral part of America's fabric, the Hiltons' story begins further afield. Augustus Halvorsen Hilton emigrated to the United States from Norway in 1870, settling in San Antonio, New Mexico. In San Antonio, Augustus and his wife, Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler, built the home, where they birthed and raised eight children—including Conrad Hilton, the son who would change it all.
REPORTERS ASSOCIES, Getty Images
2. They Started Humbly
At the start of the 1900s, Augustus Hilton listed his profession as a “dry goods merchant”. This must have provided the Hilton family with a modest amount of wealth and prestige within their community, for Conrad spent his childhood comfortably, attending three well-respected schools before setting his eyes on a lofty prize: politics.
3. They Predated The State
Conrad grew up in New Mexico, but not the United States of America. New Mexico did not become a state until 1912, at which point Conrad was already 25. This presented Conrad with a unique opportunity that involved him in the formation and development of a brand-new state. He became one of New Mexico’s first Republican representatives.
However, it was not long until the shine began to wear off, and Conrad wanted something more.
University of Southern California, Getty Images
4. He Dabbled In Politics
It appeared that politics did not suit Conrad. He ran as the Republican representative for New Mexico for three terms, from 1912, when the state first formed, until 1916. However, at that point, Conrad, supposedly, couldn’t take the “bureaucracy, slowness, cheating, lying, and inside deals of politics”. Therefore, he went into a field that is always known for its integrity and honesty: business.
5. He Had His Eye On A Career In Business
Augustus provided his son with his first taste of the business world. That “dry goods merchant” status referred to Augustus’s general store, which he ran in Socorro County, and Conrad spent time working in as a young man. However, rather than following in his father’s footsteps when he became disillusioned with politics, Conrad set his sights on a different career.
Conrad wanted to become a banker—but fate had a surprising twist in store for him.
Randal Schwartz from Portland, OR, USA, Wikimedia Commons
6. He Wanted To Be A Banker
Looking to put his plan into action, Conrad headed southeast to where all great dreams come true: Texas. At this time, Texas was experiencing the peak of its oil boom, and Conrad likely believed that he could capitalize on this. Surely, with everyone making money from the rise of oil, they’d need a bank.
Unfortunately, Conrad couldn’t secure the purchase of his bank. Left holding the bag, Conrad needed to find an alternative plan to cash in on the excess that spilled over around him.
SMU Central University Libraries, Wikimedia Commons
7. He Bought A Hotel
When Conrad’s bank purchase fell through, he needed to change directions and fast. That opportunity came to him in the form of the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas. The Mobley Hotel contained 40 rooms—40 rooms that became a constant revolving door of guests. Some sources say guests could rent the rooms for eight hours at a time, with others suggesting that they could change occupants up to three times a day.
Business proved to be so busy that Conrad began to run out of space for the guests lining up outside the door.
Renegomezphotography, Wikimedia Commons
8. He Went Even Further
Needing to create more space to keep up with growing demand, Conrad converted the dining room into more sleeping space. As the Mobley continued to boom, Conrad saw an opportunity before him. If he could make this much business off of one hotel, imagine what he could do with more!
He had bought the Mobley in 1919—and by 1930, he owned at least four other hotels throughout Texas. However, good times never last, and Conrad (along with the rest of the world) had a new enemy to face: the Great Depression.
Carol M. Highsmith, Wikimedia Commons
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9. He Faced The Depression
Starting with the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression plunged Americans coast-to-coast into financial ruin. The expansion that Conrad’s business saw throughout the 1920s couldn’t prepare him for the struggle of the depression. No one had money to spend on the frivolity of a hotel.
Conrad nearly lost it all as more and more of his hotels began to fail. Everything that he'd built began to crumble around him.
Chinmaya S Padmanabha, Wikimedia Commons
10. He Turned To Prayer
A weaker man may not have been able to recover from the financial losses inflicted on them by the Great Depression. After a decade of hard work, the rough economy began scraping it all back. However, he had a secret weapon: the advice and support of his mother and sisters.
His mother encouraged him to pray, and reportedly told him, “Some men jump out windows, some quit, some go to church. Pray Connie. It’s the best investment you’ll ever make". Shockingly, during this time of turmoil, this advice proved more powerful than any money Conrad could find.
11. His Business Survived The Crash
Against all odds, Conrad managed to hold onto both his sanity and his business during the crushing loss of the Great Depression. He rode out the financial difficulties of the '30s by holding onto a position as manager of a combined chain before ultimately returning to his initial road.
Not only did he eventually retain control of his eight remaining hotels, but he also began to expand outside of Texas. The Depression proved to be only a minor setback. Conrad continued to spread the Hilton name across America, in more ways than one.
12. They Expanded Their Family
During the rise, temporary fall, and rebirth of his chain of hotels, Conrad also busied himself with a far more personal project: building a family. He met and married Mary Adelaide Barron in 1925. Together, the couple made quick work of building a legacy of a different kind.
Mary gave Conrad three sons: Conrad Hilton Jr (1926), Barron Hilton (1927), and Eric Hilton (1933). Unfortunately, the Great Depression threatened more than just Conrad’s business, and unlike his business, Conrad’s prayers couldn’t hold onto his personal life as easily.
Photographer not credited, Wikimedia Commons
13. His Marriage Crashed And Burned
Conrad and Mary welcomed their third son in 1933—right before their marriage turned down a rocky road. Unfortunately, there was no comeback here. Only a year later, the couple decided to get a divorce. Fortunately, this emotional upheaval did not seem to set Conrad back in the slightest. As the Depression ended, Conrad continued to grow his empire—and renew his personal life.
14. He Found Himself A Famous Wife
Conrad nursed his heartbreak (if he had any) from his first marriage for roughly eight years before he set his eyes on a new and far more famous bride. Conrad married Hungarian socialite and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1942. Although Gabor gave Hilton one more child, their marriage proved to be a fraught one, built upon a shaky foundation that no one could ever expect to hold.
Los Angeles Daily News, Wikimedia Commons
15. He Had A Heroic Facade
Gabor went on to become one of history’s most glamorous and infamous starlets, marrying nine times and capturing the imagination in many films and shows throughout the '50s and '60s. However, in April 1942, when she married Conrad, Gabor had only been in the United States for roughly a year, having fled Hungary and the conflict that raged across Europe.
Perhaps Conrad proved a hero to her in those years—he certainly aided her parents in fleeing Hungary as well; however, if that were the case, the illusion of Conrad as a hero did not last long.
Studio publicity still, Wikimedia Commons
16. He Wasn't Her Dream Husband
Gabor was a romantic. When speaking of marriage in her autobiography, she claimed that she loved being married, “I love the companionship, I love cooking for a man (simple things like chicken soup and my special Dracula's goulash from Hungary), and spending all my time with a man. Of course, I love being in love—but it is marriage that fulfills me”.
However, she also made a point of emphasizing that this did not apply to all of her marriages—her marriage to Conrad seemed filled with struggle, mostly caused by him.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
17. He Was Controlling
During their marriage, Conrad appeared to diminish Gabor, perhaps taking more pleasure in possessing her than loving her. He decided to change her name, calling her Georgia instead of Zsa Zsa. To this, Gabor wrote that the decision, “symbolized everything my marriage to him would eventually become. My Hungarian roots were to be ripped out and my background ignored. ... I soon discovered that my marriage to Conrad meant the end of my freedom. My own needs were completely ignored: I belonged to Conrad”.
Conrad reportedly even tainted the one good thing they supposedly did together.
18. They Were Doomed From The Start
From Gabor’s writing, it seems fairly clear that she and Conrad had a doomed marriage from the start. They finally faced this fact when they divorced in October 1947. However, a few months before they finalized the divorce, Gabor gave birth to their only child, Francesca Gabor Hilton. While this birth tied them together forever, it proved to be a dark connection.
Yet again, Gabor dropped a bombshell in her 1991 biography that changed the way that everyone looked at not just Conrad, but their child as well.
19. He Didn’t Take No For An Answer
According to Gabor, she and Conrad conceived Francesca under dubious circumstances. Gabor claimed that she did not consent to the altercation that produced Francesca, yet Conrad carried on with the act regardless. For the most part, if Gabor spoke the truth, it did not appear to affect Francesca’s childhood, growing up under the wealth of both parents.
Of course, Conrad had bigger problems by this point, dealing with Francesca’s older siblings.
20. He Liked A Good Time
Conrad’s eldest son, Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr, known as Nicky, proved to be trouble nearly from the moment that he entered the world. He had no interest in the family business as a child and dropped out of or was kicked out of most schools that he went to. Nicky’s true passions appeared to be what any good wealthy son’s interests should be: parties, substances, and women.
In some ways, he took after his father, even sharing the same appetites, and maybe the same women.
21. He Liked Pretty Women
Among the many bombshells that Zsa Zsa Gabor dropped over the years, few of them hit home quite like the one about Nicky. During Conrad's marriage to Gabor, Nicky was between the ages of 16 and 21. Whether it was during her marriage to Conrad or after, Gabor claimed to have had intimate relations with Nicky at some point.
Whether this be true or not, Nicky shared his father’s taste in starlet women who possessed a serial marriage habit, and Nicky’s marriage went no better than his father's.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
22. He Married An Actress
Nicky married superstar Elizabeth Taylor in October 1949 to much fanfare. Taylor’s movie studio at the time, MGM, paid for their public ceremony, making a spectacle out of their pretty young star's marriage. Taylor, only 18 at the time, had already been engaged twice and was rumored to have had connections to several more men.
She’d mistakenly equated marriage to love thanks to her puritanical upbringing, and, with Nicky, she quickly learned how dangerous that mistake could be.
23. He Was A Playboy With Vices
Four years older than Taylor, Nicky was 23 when they married and already deeply dependent on his various vices, including drink, drugs, and gambling. What must have started as a fairy tale for Taylor quickly descended into a nightmare when Nicky began to show his true colours. His playboy lifestyle and sinful dependencies turned Nicky into a temperamental and aggressive husband who’d lash out at Taylor at any sign of provocation.
The consequences were chilling.
24. He Had A Monstrous Side
Not long after their marriage, Taylor became pregnant. Tragically, any excitement about the baby ultimately turned into the worst kind of horror story. During one of his rages, Nicky brutally kicked Taylor in the stomach, leading to a miscarriage. Therefore, it's no mystery why their marriage lasted less than a year—and they divorced on grounds of mental cruelty.
Yet, still, Hollywood considered Nicky an eligible bachelor.
25. He Was Still Desirable
Nicky never let the swift end to his marriage with Elizabeth Taylor get him down. Instead, he quickly moved on. Before 1951 finished, Nicky announced his engagement to another actress: Betsy von Furstenberg. According to some, von Furstenberg shared Nicky’s wild partying ways, having started drinking when she was 14.
Initially, she appeared not to take Nicky’s wild temper all that seriously. She found the entire Hilton clan a source of shock and entertainment.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
26. They Were Uneducated
Von Furstenberg appeared to find Hilton’s wild ways a fascination, just another party that she could go along with. She recalled that Nicky “slept ’til God knows what time. He got up and he started drinking and playing cards. He didn’t go to work”. At only 18, von Furstenberg was awestruck by the Hiltons and their chaotic lifestyles.
In her words, “I was so amazed that they were so uneducated”. Of course, that amazement did not allow her to fare any better than Taylor had with Nicky’s wild temper.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
27. He Laid His Hands On Her
A tiger doesn’t change its stripes, and Nicky Hilton appeared to have learned nothing from his first marriage. Initially, von Furstenberg recalls laughing at her reflection in a mirror after Nicky blackened her eye. However, that amusement must have faded eventually, as Nicky’s engagement to her ended before a marriage ever took place.
While Nicky bungled through life, his father and brothers continued to grow the family’s legacy.
University of Southern California, Getty Images
28. They Bought A Legacy
Conrad’s marriages may have never taken flight; however, his business sense only continued to soar. After recovering from the struggle of the '30s, Conrad spent the '40s and the '50s expanding the Hilton name, building or collecting hotels across America, including the historic Waldorf-Astoria in October 1949.
In acquiring the managing rights to the Waldorf-Astoria, Conrad absorbed the legacy of another historic American family, the Astors. Unlike the Astors, however, Conrad had no intention of allowing his legacy to implode through his descendants’ carelessness, not if he could help it.
unknown, upload by Adrian Michael, Wikimedia Commons
29. They Broke The Borders
Conrad set his sights high. Owning a chain of hotels in America alone offered him no contentment, not when a whole world existed out there. Conrad formed the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1946 and the Hilton International company in 1949, making his chain the first international hotel chain; ultimately, Hilton owned 188 hotels in 38 cities throughout the United States and had 54 hotels abroad.
However, the problem with a legacy of this standard begs the question: What are you to do with it once you’re gone?
30. They Couldn’t Trust Each Other
Although Conrad eventually included Nicky within the Hilton legacy, making him vice president of the Hilton Corporation in 1951 and the manager of the Bel Air hotel, he surely had concerns about what might become of the Hilton name if his wayward, partying son had any true control over it.
Nicky faced trouble with the authorities in 1954, and although he eventually married in 1958 and had two sons, that marriage eventually crumbled too. Nicky couldn’t keep hold of anything, except his drink; what would he make of a multimillion-dollar corporation?
31. His Health Was Poor
Perhaps, in the long run, it proved a blessing to Conrad that the matter of Nicky and his uncontrollable ways settled itself before it forced Conrad to fully address the matter of inheritance. Nicky lived life to the fullest. He partied hard, and he consumed substances even harder. A body can rarely sustain such constant damage.
As a harrowing consequence, Nicky pre-deceased his father by ten years, succumbing to a heart attack at the age of 42. This merely left Conrad’s remaining two sons and daughter to be thought of in his will. Surely, with the amount of money the Hiltons had by this point, they could handle the matter civilly...right?
32. They Had A Spare
What Conrad’s first son lacked, his second son made up for in spades. Barron Hilton proved to be everything that his father could have hoped for in a son. He became involved in the hotel business at an early age and exhibited his father’s business savvy once he received control of the Hilton Hotels Corporation.
Under Barron’s guidance, Hilton expanded into Las Vegas, which resulted in the corporation becoming the first hotel chain to also involve itself in gaming. Surely, with all that he’d done for the business, Conrad would want to leave his legacy in his second son’s hands. Reality turned out slightly more complicated.
UH Photographs Collection, 1948-2000, Wikimedia Commons
33. He Gave Most Of It Away
Conrad Hilton passed in 1979 at the age of 91. He left behind a multimillion-dollar business and three surviving children, his two younger sons and his daughter. But shockingly, his children received very little. Instead, Conrad left 97 percent of his estate to the charitable organization that he’d founded over thirty years ago: the Conrad N Hilton Foundation. He’d forgotten about his children entirely—or had he?
Harry Pot / Anefo, Wikimedia Commons
34. Their Will Was Complicated
On the surface, it appeared that Conrad had neglected his children. However, the truth was slightly more complicated. Conrad left 13.5 million shares to the Conrad N Hilton Foundation. However, his will kept Barron in mind. In his will, Conrad gave his second son the right to purchase those shares, which would enable him to keep control of the company in the family.
Unfortunately, Conrad failed to anticipate that the Foundation wouldn’t want to give up those shares once they had them.
35. They Started A Feud
Although Conrad reportedly gave Barron the right to buy back the Hilton Hotels stock from the Conrad N Hilton Foundation, the Foundation didn’t want to give it up. When they announced the clause in the will, the foundation challenged it, sending the entire affair to probate and locking the funds in limbo for years until they could settle the matter once and for all.
36. They Took Years To Resolve It
Conrad passed in 1979. It took almost a decade for the matter of the family fortune to be settled. The appeals court finally ruled in Barron’s favor in March 1988. During this time, Barron continued to steer the company in the right direction, meaning that by the time Barron received the shares he’d wanted a decade earlier, they’d quadrupled in value.
Barron felt assured that his “father would be pleased with this accord” that Barron and the Foundation came to. However, other members of the family were not nearly as pleased with their inheritance.
37. They Left Each Other Out
Conrad did not think about all of his children equally. While outside forces denied Barron his initial inheritance, his half-sister, Francesca, was an entirely different matter. Conrad did not completely forget Francesca. She was in the will. However, despite the millions of dollars that the Hilton family had amassed by that point, her father left her the tidy sum of $100,000.
Francesca was not happy, nor was she going to take this slight sitting down.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
38. They Forgot About Francesca
It’s possible that Conrad felt that he did not need to consider his daughter. Through her mother, Francesca was the only child of all three wealthy Gabor sisters; it’s possible Conrad presumed that Francesca would one day inherit the Gabor wealth and had no need for the Hilton money.
Regardless, the sum that he left her proved too paltry for Francesca’s tastes. She too contested the will. Unfortunately, she faced more problems than Barron did.
Evening Standard, Getty Images
39. She Couldn’t Get It Back
Whatever her father may have been thinking when writing his will, Francesca thought that he owed her more than $100,000. She contested the will. Unfortunately, the courts ruled against her, and Francesca had to settle for the lowly sum. This proved to be the start of Francesca’s misfortune.
While her half-brothers continued to prosper, Francesca’s life seemed destined to fall steadily downhill.
Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection, Getty Images
40. She Struggled With Men
Conrad was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s second husband. Throughout her life, Francesca had seven stepfathers. However, none of them appeared to give Francesca as much grief as her final stepfather, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt. Gabor and von Anhalt remained married for the remainder of Gabor’s life—which proved to be a huge problem for Francesca.
41. She Tried To Keep Control
Francesca’s mother, Gabor, became paralyzed from a severe car crash at the end of 2002. From this point on, Gabor’s health continued to decline, which appeared to give her husband, von Anhalt, increasingly more control within her life, much to the detriment of Francesca. In 2005, von Anhalt accused Francesca of attempting to manipulate her mother to her benefit. Things appeared to continue their nosedive from there.
42. They Got Into Trouble
According to von Anhalt, Francesca fraudulently attempted to use her mother’s house to gain a loan and manipulated Gabor’s will. Von Anhalt filed lawsuits against Francesca for these actions. However, when Gabor failed to show up or sign a statement as a co-complainant, the court dropped the suits.
A few years later, the tables turned, and Francesca attempted to take the power away from von Anhalt.
Udo Grimberg, Wikimedia Commons
43. They Went To Court
By 2012, Gabor’s health had deteriorated so far that she could no longer care for herself. Francesca sued for an independent conservatorship to be set up for Gabor, surely intending to have control over her mother’s estate as a result. Unfortunately, the judge granted that power to von Anhalt, leaving Francesca out in the cold—literally.
44. They Neglected Francesca
By the end of her life, Francesca could have desperately used a fraction of either of her parents’ fortunes. Despite being the daughter of two wealthy families, Francesca ended her life in poverty. Reportedly, Francesca was homeless a month before she passed due to complications from a stroke, tragically bouncing between apartments rented by the week and her car.
Her mother, Gabor, never knew of her daughter’s passing as von Anhalt chose not to tell her. While Francesca’s life continued to crumble, Barron and the Hilton legacy grew.
David Livingston, Getty Images
45. They Continued To Populate
Conrad only passed on his relationship troubles to two of his children. Both of his younger sons married and built stable families of their own. Barron, in particular, set to work carrying on the Hilton name. Marrying Marilyn June Hawley in 1947, she and Barron remained together for their entire lives, and gave the world eight children in the process.
It is through Barron that they introduced the world to the next generation of Hiltons.
![Gettyimages - 50564507, Barron Hilton [& Wife] Barron Hilton and wife at opening of new Hilton hotel.](https://www.factinate.com/storage/app/media/factinate/2025/9/17/36.jpg)
46. Their Family Grew
Most of Barron’s eight children have lived quiet lives that have led to little being known about them. However, the exception to this rule is his sixth child, Richard Howard Hilton. Richard followed his father into business, setting up the Hilton Realty Investment, which continued to expand the Hilton empire.
However, through his marriage, he changed the way the entire world looked at the name Hilton.
47. They Continued To Marry
1979 would have been a far darker year for the Hiltons if it were not for Richard. While they still lost Conrad that year, Richard also expanded the family, marrying Katy Avanzino, an American socialite and actress with a few credits to her name by that point.
Despite their youth, Richard was 24 and Kathy 20, their marriage proved one for the ages. Not only are they still together today, but they have had four children, including the names that everyone has been waiting for: Paris and Nicky Hilton.
Donaldson Collection, Getty Images
48. They Made Their Own Way
Although their younger daughter, Nicky Hilton, bore the name of Barron’s troublesome brother, she appeared to avoid most of her great-uncle’s faults. Launching a fashion line in 2004, Nicky successfully utilized her family name to create a business for herself. After her one failed Vegas marriage in 2004, Nicky has since settled down.
Although a recognizable name, she still lives in the shadow of her sister, Paris.
49. They Capitalized On Their Fame
Before Paris Hilton, the name Hilton reminded people of hotels alone. Perhaps a few people had followed the various scandals that the elder generations had, but most thought little of the Hiltons. Then Paris Hilton launched onto the scene with The Simple Life, a reality show with her friend Nicole Richie.
During her meteoric rise in the early 2000s, many felt Paris gained fame simply by being rich—and, of course, scandalous. Paris Hilton proved that there is no such thing as bad press, certainly not for the Hiltons.
Fox, The Simple Life (2003–2007)
50. They Are An Institution
Today, the Hilton family remains as wealthy as they had been decades before. Despite scandal and small bouts of infighting, they’ve managed to navigate the modern world and continue to hold onto not just their wealth, but their prestigious status. However, for anyone who believed that Paris Hilton came out of nowhere, you now know: She is just one part of a lasting legacy, and we’re all waiting to see what the Hiltons will do next.
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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
