How Paris Hilton ended up in line to inherit billions – part I
Rumor has it Paris Hilton has been disinherited. This rumor may or may not be true. Whether true or not Paris Hilton was born a legitimate heir to a billion dollar fortune. She has appeared on Forbes lists of billionaire heiresses.
In all likelihood, even if she wasn’t disinherited, with only 2.3 billion in the family it’s hard to see how Paris could inherit billions. The latest on the status of her granddaddy William Hilton’s fortune is that he has pledged 97% of it to his late father’s foundation. That would leave only 69 million dollars to be divided up between his heirs. Not a very promising outlook for Paris.
How Paris Hilton’s Path to fame and fortune began – The Hilton family tree
It all began in Norway. A family named Hilton lived as farmers near Ullensaker, a municipality in Akershus County Norway.
Halvor Nilsen Hilton and his wife Karoline Hansdatter “Kari” Holum gave birth to son Augustus Halvorson “Gus” Hilton in 1854.
Gus Hilton moved to the United States from Norway in 1970.
Some time thereafter he married Mary Genevieve Laufersweiler who was born in Fort Dodge Iowa in 1861 to Conrad Laufersweiler and Caroline Wasem.
Gus and Caroline then proceeded to do their part in carrying out the bible’s instructions to be fruitful and multiply. They reproduced themselves eight times. Their children were:
- Felice A. Hilton (1885 – 1968)
- Conrad Hilton (1887 – 1979)
- Eva C. Hilton (1889 – 1979)
- Carl H. Hilton (1892 – 1957)
- Julia Hilton (1895 – 1897)
- Rosemary J. Hilton (1898 – 1995)
- August H. “Boy” Hilton (1901 – 1929)
- Helen A. Hilton (1906 – 2003)
Gus and Carline’s son Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel in 1919 in Texas after being discharged from the US Army. He was 35 at the time. He then went on to buy other hotels throughout Texas. In 1946 he started the Hilton Hotels Corporation and in 1948 the Hilton International Company.
Conrad Hilton’s first wife was Mary Adelaide Barron. He married her in 1925 and divorced her in 1934. They had three sons:
- Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr.
- William Barron Hilton
- Eric Michael Hilton
In 1942 Conrad Hilton, Sr. married actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. They divorced in 1946. Only one child resulted from the marriage of Conrad Hilton, Sr. to Zsa Zsa Gabor. She was named Constance Francesca Hilton.
No additional children are known to have been fathered by Conrad Hilton Sr. He married Mary Frances Kelly in 1976, but the two did not have any children. So the direct heirs of Conrad Hilton Sr., were Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr., William Barron Hilton, Eric Michael Hilton and Constance Francesca Hilton.
Disinherited
Conrad Hilton Sr. left hardly anything to his children when he died. The bulk of his estate was willed to the Catholic Church. His son William Barron Hilton had to go to court to contest the will. He was successful in his suit. Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr. had died ten years before his father. One can assume the children of Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr had with his first wife Patricia “Trish” McClintock did not inherit any of their grandfather’s money.
Constance Francesca Hilton also tried to contest her father’s will but lost her suit; so the only child of Conrad Hilton Sr.’s who inherited the Hilton fortune was William Barron Hilton.
Images: © wireimage.com
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