The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty

Summary (from the publisher): From New York Times bestselling biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli comes an engrossing and revealing portrait of the Hilton dynasty.

The Hiltons is a fascinating, no-holds-barred account of the American industrial giant who built the world's greatest hotel empire and his always larger-than-life family.

Demanding and enigmatic, patriarch Conrad Hilton's visionary ideas and unyielding will established the model for the modern luxury hotel industry. But outside the boardroom, Conrad struggled with emotional detachment, failed marriages, and conflicted Catholicism.

Then there are the Hilton children. Playboy Nicky's tragic alcoholism and passionate but abusive relationship with Elizabeth Taylor was the stuff of tabloid legend. Serious Barron, on the other hand, deftly handled his father's legacy, carrying the Hilton brand triumphantly into the new millennium. Eric, raised apart from his older brothers, accepted his supporting role in the Hilton dynasty with calm and quiet--a stark contrast to the boys' much younger half-sister Francesca, whose battle for recognition led her into courtrooms and conflict.

The cast of supporting players includes the inimitable Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was married to Conrad briefly but remained a thorn in his side for decades; a young Donald Trump; and a host of other Hollywood and business luminaries with whom the Hiltons crossed paths and swords over the years.

The Hiltons is a sweeping saga of the success--and excess--of an iconic and only-in-America family dynasty.

 

Review: I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.

 

Although ostensibly about the Hilton family, The Hiltons is largely about Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton dynasty. Conrad had three sons with his first wife, the troubled Nicky, the business savvy Barron, and the much younger Eric. Additionally, he had a daughter (although her paternity has been questioned) with his second wife, the infamous Zsa Zsa Gabor. Conrad would come to deeply regret his impetuous second marriage, and Zsa Zsa would be a presence in his life for decades after their divorce, considering herself a part of the family, and thus worthy of a chunk of Conrad's wealth (which she was not to receive).

 

I loved learning more about the founding of the famous Hilton hotels and learning that Conrad built his fortune on hard work and commitment to superior service. Conrad's father Gus came to America from Norway in 1854. Conrad was to be the second of nine children. Conrad worked in his father's general store as a youth, but his first real entrepreneurial experience came when the family fortunes were wiped out in the financial panic of 1907, when young Conrad suggested that his family open a hotel; "Let's take five or six of our ten rooms [of the house in which they lived] and make a hotel." "Not only did Conrad manage the hotel, but he worked the desk, was the concierge, and did pretty much everything he could think of to keep the enterprise afloat." Although Conrad slowly began growing his hotel business, he almost lost all during the Great Depression. Conrad was able to cash in his relationships, and the faith others had in his ability in order to keep his hotels afloat. At the time of his death in 1979, Conrad left behind a "liquid fortune of approximately $200 million, which in today's dollars would be worth roughly $6 billion. Besides that amount, he held at least $500 million in stocks." However, Conrad chose to leave less than 1% of his wealth to his relatives and friends, leaving the rest to the Conrad Hilton Foundation.

 

Aside, from Conrad, possibly the two most famous other Hiltons have been his son Nicky, known for his famous first marriage to Elizabeth Taylor, and his granddaughter Paris, known for her celebrity status, sex tape, and many product lines. Yet his second oldest son Barron was his true heir, running the company for many years after his death. Remarkably, given his wealth and status, Barron had a long and happy marriage with his wife Marilyn, with whom he had eight children, and made very few business mistakes in his many years of work. (Interestingly, Donald Trump, who considers Barron a close friend, admired him so much he named one of his sons Barron after the famous Hilton hotelier.)

 

This is certainly not the first book I've read about family dynasties born out of American companies; other notable ones include Bitter Brew, about the Busch family and Crazy Rich, about the family behind Johnson & Johnson. However, aside from several failed marriages and some substance abuse, the Hiltons seem to have been much more successful at not letting their wealth go entirely to their heads. With a couple notable exceptions, the Hilton family is largely free of scandals and gross misuse of their wealth. Taraborrelli portrays the Hiltons as a relatively close knit family, with devout Catholic leanings, who also happen to be very successful and wealthy. "Behind the celebrity, the success, the wealth and the glamour unique to the Hilton name is the story of everyday people, with redeeming strengths and inevitable flaws."

 

Although the book provides decent coverage of Hilton's children, aside from a couple of chapters about Paris, there is very little said about Conrad Hilton's grandchildren in this book. I would have liked to have learned about the current generation of Hiltons aside from the most infamous of this generation. Additionally, I was surprised by how much Conrad's second wife Zsa Zsa figured in this book. Although clearly a central figure, she's notorious for changing her story so her reliability as a witness to the Hiltons is far from certain. Additionally, Conrad never seems to have been intimate with Zsa Zsa either emotionally or regarding business, so I'm not sure how much Zsa Zsa adds to the story.

 

Before reading The Hiltons, my only encounter with the man behind the hotels was Conrad's portrayal on the show Mad Men. I loved learning more about this self-made man, a man whose true passion seemed to be his work and his religion, and who can still be recognized by the many hotels that carry his name.

 

Stars: 4