Hilton Worldwide

Conrad Hilton raised money from friends and family and went to Cisco, Texas, to buy a bank. When the owner raised the price at the last minute, he broke off the talks and in 1919 bought the Mobley Hotel instead.⁠[1]

Then a 31-year-old World War I veteran, Conrad N. Hilton entered the hotel business “somewhat accidentally.”⁠[2]

In 1925 Conrad N. Hilton built his first hotel in Dallas, the first to carry his name.⁠[2]

Hilton Hotels Corporation, formed in 1946, was the first hotel company after World War II to sell stock in New York and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1947. Conrad Hilton bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York in 1949, and the 1954 purchase of Statler Hotels for $111 million was described as the largest real estate deal in history at the time.⁠[3]

On July 3, 2007, Hilton Hotels Corporation announced that BlackstoneBlackstoneBlackstone is an alternative asset manager serving institutional and individual investors. Its official website states that its assets under management exceeded $1.3 trillion as of June 30, 2026.Open the full entry’s real estate and corporate private equity funds would acquire all of its outstanding common stock for $47.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $26 billion, a 40% premium over the previous day’s closing price. Hilton then had more than 2,800 hotels and 480,000 rooms in 76 countries and territories.⁠[4]

On October 24, 2007, Hilton announced the completion of its merger with an affiliate of Blackstone’s investment funds. Shareholders received $47.50 in cash per share, and the stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange at the close of market that day. The deal was financed with $20.6 billion of mortgage and mezzanine debt and approximately $5.7 billion of equity.⁠[5]

On October 29 the company named Christopher Nassetta, president and CEO of Host Hotels & Resorts since 2000, as its president and CEO. Stephen F. Bollenbach had retired when the acquisition was completed. Jonathan GrayJon GrayJon Gray is an American private equity investor who has served as president and chief operating officer of Blackstone since 2018. He joined Blackstone in 1992, led its real estate business from 2005 to 2018, and led major deals including the acquisitions of Equity Office Properties and Hilton.Open the full entry of Blackstone said the goal was to build “the premier global hospitality company.”⁠[6]

Starwood alleged that its former executives Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani took hundreds of thousands of electronic documents when they joined Hilton in April 2009 and used its confidential information to develop Hilton’s Denizen brand. In December 2010 the companies settled out of court, and Hilton accepted business restrictions overseen by an independent monitor, including a bar on launching a brand similar to Denizen.⁠[7]

On August 4, 2009, Hilton Hotels Corporation announced the opening of its new global headquarters at Park Place II in the Tysons Corner area of McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia. The relocation from Beverly Hills, CaliforniaBeverly HillsBeverly Hills is an incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, known for its film-industry residents, Rodeo Drive shopping district and hotels. Incorporated on January 28, 1914, it covers about 5.71 square miles and recorded 32,701 residents in the 2020 census. It operates under a council–manager system. The Metro D Line extension reached Wilshire/La Cienega in May 2026.Open the full entry, followed a review of locations based on costs, proximity to major business hubs and available commercial space.⁠[8]

On September 23, 2009, the company changed its name from Hilton Hotels Corporation to Hilton Worldwide and launched a new logo, saying the name “signifies the company’s global breadth and reach.”⁠[9]

On December 11, 2013, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. priced its initial public offering of 117,640,624 shares of common stock at $20.00 per share, with trading expected to begin on the New York Stock Exchange on December 12 under the symbol “HLT.” The company intended to use the net proceeds and available cash to repay approximately $1.25 billion of term loan borrowings.⁠[10]

It was the biggest-ever hotel IPO.⁠[11]

In October 2016 HNA Group agreed to pay $6.5 billion for a 25% stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings from its biggest shareholder, Blackstone, at $26.25 per share, a 14.6% premium to the previous Friday’s closing price.⁠[11]

On January 4, 2017, Hilton announced the completion of the spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts, a lodging real estate investment trust, and the timeshare company Hilton Grand Vacations, creating three independent public companies. The two new companies began regular-way trading on the New York Stock Exchange that day as PK and HGV, and Hilton effected a 1-for-3 reverse stock split.⁠[12]

Under the plan, Hilton kept exclusive licensing agreements to market, sell and operate the Hilton Grand Vacations resorts, and existing shareholders received shares in the two new companies without a shareholder vote.⁠[13]

On June 9, 2017, S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) is a global index provider that compiles and licenses benchmark indices including the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was formed in 2012 by combining McGraw-Hill’s S&P index business with the Dow Jones Indexes business held by a joint venture of CME Group and Dow Jones, and it is now the index business division of S&P Global, which holds about 73% of the interest.Open the full entry announced that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. would replace Yahoo!YahooYahoo is an internet brand that grew out of a 1994 Stanford web directory project created by Jerry Yang and David Filo; its businesses span email, search, news, sports, finance and advertising technology. After acquiring Viaweb in 1998, it launched Yahoo Store. In 2017 the original public company sold its operating business and was renamed Altaba, and the brand’s business came under funds managed by Apollo in 2021. Yahoo’s current chief executive officer is Jim Lanzone, and its official company page lists its headquarters in New York.Open the full entry Inc. in the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry prior to the open of trading on June 19, in the Consumer Discretionary sector’s Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines sub-industry.⁠[14]

As of December 31, 2025, Hilton had 9,158 properties with 1,351,351 rooms in 143 countries and territories. About 182,000 people were employed or managed at its leased and managed hotels and corporate offices.⁠[15]

Hilton’s 2025 total revenues were $12,039 million (2024: $11,174 million), net income was $1,461 million (2024: $1,539 million) and diluted earnings per share were $6.12. Net unit growth was 6.7%, the development pipeline reached a record 520,500 rooms at year-end, and the company returned $3.3 billion to shareholders. Christopher J. Nassetta remained president and chief executive officer.⁠[16]