Conrad Hilton was an American hotelier who is well-known as the founder of the Hilton Hotels chain. He was born Conrad Nicholson Hilton on December 25, 1887 in San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. He attended Goss Military (New Mexico Military Institute), St. Michael’s College (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design), and the New Mexico School of Mines (now New Mexico Tech).

Growing up, Hilton had been greatly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church and his sisters, his mother guiding him to a life of prayer and the church. He started his way to achieving business success when he worked at his father’s general store as a young boy. He also had political experience as a representative in New Mexico’s first State Legislature, as well as a career decision to become a banker.

However, his interest was turned into hotels when he moved to Texas despite the intention of buying a bank. In 1919, he bought his first hotel, the 40-room Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas. From then on, he has built the largest and most profitable international hotel empire of his era. He built the high-rise Dallas Hilton which opened in 1925, the Abilene Hilton in 1927, Waco Hilton in 1928 and El Paso Hilton in 1930. In 1939, he built his first hotel outside Texas, now known as the Hotel Andaluz in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Conrad Hilton has expanded his empire to the West in California and east to Chicago. He acquired the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City which made international headlines and the Stevens Hotel in Chicago, then the world’s largest hotel. The Hilton Hotels Corporation acquired the control of Statler Hotels in 1954, which is the largest real estate transaction the world has known to date. Hilton has a total of 188 owned hotels in 38 cities in the U.S. as well as 54 hotels abroad.

In 1966, Conrad was succeeded as president by his son Barron and he was elected chairman of the board. He died in 1979 due to natural causes at the age of 91.