THE LIFE OF CONRAD HILTON (1887-1979)



Conrad Hilton was born in New Mexico in 1887 and built his current hotel empire beginning with nothing.  His father Gus, who owned the town ‘general store’ as well as other businesses, taught Conrad to be an assertive businessman and skilled negotiator.  His mother, Mary Genevieve, was a devout Catholic and taught Conrad the importance of prayer.

Conrad’s first “business venture” was as manager of his sister’s musical group.  Promoting her and organizing gigs to entertain the oil workers after their long work days, he barely broke even.  He then opened San Antonio’s first bank, which eventually failed since the town was still too small and he could not attract enough customers..

He went to Texas in 1919 with only his $5000 savings.  Conrad bought his first hotel, the 40 room Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas, in 1919 for $40 000 and renovated it to “pamper” visitors with a cold drink, warm meal, and a comfortable room.  He quickly expanded his business to owning eight hotels in Texas and built a few high-rise hotels during the late 1920’s.  The first hotel highrise he built was the Dallas Hilton in 1925.  His success was attributed not only to his ability to buy ‘run-down’ hotels at deep discounted prices and renovate them to add value, but also his ability to attract new investors with his honest business practices.

                   
            Mobley Hotel in Cisco, TX                                                             Dallas Hilton

Heading towards becoming a millionaire, the Great Depression in 1929 caused him to lose everything except one hotel in the span of a year.  At one time, he was $500 000 in debt without a penny to his name.  But, he was a very persistent man and never gave up on his dream.  To avoid losing his one last hotel, he had to ask his family and friends for money.  He also made a deal with his hotel suppliers that if they each gave him $5000 he would buy from them forever.  Supposedly, upon receiving the money during a meeting, he dropped everything and ran to the bank to make the lease payment.

When the depression ended and America entered a time of great boom and growth, Conrad Hilton was in a position to grow his empire quickly.  He had obtained the respect of many businessmen and investors as one of the only hotel businesses during the Great Depression who had not filed for bankruptcy.   His company was incorporated in 1948 and he quickly grew after that to become one of America’s wealthiest individuals. 

Even after obtaining this great success, Conrad Hilton retained his devout faith, honest business practices, and firm belief in prayer.  He hosted the first Congressional Prayer Breakfast in 1953 with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  He started the “America on it’s Knees” campaign in 1952 in response to America’s threat from Communism.

Conrad died at the age of 91 in 1978.  He left all but 1% of his vast fortune to his non-profit foundation, which has contributed over $900 million to charity work worldwide to date.

Johnson Frais
PassionRight Properties
www.passionright.com