Barron Hilton, chairman of the Hilton hotel chain and founder of the AFL passed away on Thursday, September 19 at the age of 91.
What We Know:
- Barron Hilton was born in Dallas, Texas in 1927 and served as a photographer in the Navy. He had a love for aviation ever since a little boy and by the time he was seventeen, he was a trained flyer.
- Hilton was an entrepreneur for twenty years and even founded the American Football League, which is now the NFL American Football Conference in which he was also a founding owner of the now Los Angeles Chargers NFL team.
- After taking the place of his father, Conrad Hilton, in 1966, Hilton became the president and CEO of the Hilton Hotels Corporation.
- In 1996, after thirty years in the hospitality industry, Hilton retired. Eleven years later, in 2007, he declared that he was following in his father’s footsteps and donating 97% of his wealth to philanthropic work through the Hilton Corporation. This present is expected to gross the foundation’s funding from $2.9 billion to $6.3 billion, the business stated.
- Hilton married his wife, Marilyn June Hawley in 1947 and they remained in marital bliss until her death in 2004. He is the grandfather of reality TV star Paris Hilton and socialite Nicky Hilton-Rothschild. Hilton tweeted on Friday about the passing of her late-grandfather.
- Hilton passed away from natural causes in his Los Angeles home. He leaves behind eight children, fifteen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. The Hilton Hotels current president and CEO, Christopher J. Nassetta expressed, “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.”
Sending condolences to the Hilton family, the Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hilton’s friends and associates.
