Hilton fortune to go to charity
Paris Hilton's potential inheritance has dramatically diminished after her grandfather announced plans to donate 97% of his $2.3bn fortune to charity.
80-year-old Barron Hilton, the son of the man who founded the hotel chain and made the family fortune, will place the money in a charitable trust that will eventually benefit the Conrad N Hilton Foundation, raising its total value to about $4.5bn.
In a statement the foundation said: "Barron Hilton, chairman of the foundation, intends to contribute 97% of his entire net worth, estimated today at $2.3bn, including the created trusts, at whatever value it is at the time of his passing."
His wealth includes the $1.2bn Barron Hilton stands to earn from both the recent sale of Hilton Hotels Corp - started by his father Conrad in 1919 - and the pending sale of the world's biggest casino company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.
Paris Hilton was not immediately available for comment on her grandfather's plans for his fortune.
Jerry Oppenheimer, who profiled the Hilton family in his 2006 book 'House of Hilton', has said Barron Hilton is embarrassed by the behaviour of his socialite granddaughter Paris and believes it has sullied the family name.
The Conrad N Hilton Foundation supports projects that provide clean water in Africa, education for blind children, and housing for the mentally ill. Its aims, based on Conrad Hilton's will, are "to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute".
"Speaking for the family as well as the foundation, we are all exceedingly proud and grateful for this extraordinary commitment," said Steven Hilton, one of Barron's sons and president and chief executive of the foundation.
Conrad Hilton established the foundation in 1944 and when he died in 1979 left virtually all of his fortune - including, according to media reports at the time, a 27% controlling stake in Hilton Hotels - to the charity.
But Barron Hilton challenged the will and after a nearly decade-long legal struggle reached an out-of-court settlement to split ownership of the shares with the foundation in 1988, The New York Times reported.
The hotel group was sold for $20bn in October to private equity firm Blackstone Group, while the acquisition of Harrah's - of which Barron Hilton was a board member until 2006 - is due to be completed by Apollo Management and TPG Capital in early 2008.
