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Does Paris Hilton embarrass her grandfather? One author says she does. |
WASHINGTON - When he dies, Hilton Hotels Corp. cochairman Barron Hilton will give 97 percent of his estimated $2.3 billion fortune to the foundation his father established.
Hilton, 80, will make an immediate donation of $1.2 billion to the Los Angeles-based Conrad H. Hilton Foundation, representing his share of the proceeds of the sale of the second-largest US hotel chain and the pending sale of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the foundation's chief executive, Steven Hilton, said in a prepared statement.
The contribution boosts the foundation's value to $4.5 billion.
"Working to alleviate human suffering around the globe, regardless of race, religion, or geography, is the mandate of the foundation set by my grandfather, Conrad Hilton, and now reinforced by my father, Barron Hilton," Steven Hilton said.
Blackstone Group LP paid $20 billion for Hilton in the largest transaction ever for a hotel company earlier this year. Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc. agreed to pay $17.1 billion for Harrah's Entertainment in the largest casino buyout, which is expected to close next year.
Conrad Hilton, who bought his first hotel in 1919, created the foundation in 1944 and left almost all of his fortune to it when he died in 1979. Since its inception, more than $560 million has been distributed.
More than 50 percent of the money funds international initiatives such as sanitation and water systems in developing countries; housing for mentally ill homeless people and homeless mothers and children in the United States; blindness prevention; and drug-abuse prevention among young people.
The foundation also awards the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize each year to a charitable organization involved in relieving suffering.
Paris Hilton was not immediately available for comment on her grandfather's plans for his fortune.
Jerry Oppenheimer, who profiled the Hiltons in his 2006 book "House of Hilton," has said Barron Hilton is embarrassed by the behavior of his socialite granddaughter. He has not commented on Oppenheimer's remarks.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
