Hilton history

With the Mobley running smoothly, Hilton bought two more Texas properties in 1920; the Melba, in Fort Worth, and the Waldorf in Dallas--named after the prized New York hotel.

In 1925, the Dallas Hilton became the first hotel to use the Hilton name.

In 1927, Hilton expanded to Waco, Texas, where he opened the first hotel with air-conditioning in public areas and cold running water.

With expansions well underway, Hilton consolidated his properties into Hilton Hotels, Incorporated, in 1929, when the stock market crashed.

The El Paso Hilton was completed in November 1930 and opened with a fanfare.

In 1931 the Moody family of Galveston, Texas, from whom Hilton had borrowed, took possession of his hotels when he defaulted on a $300,000 loan.

Nine months later, in 1932, Hilton and the Moodys decided to part.

In 1933, while Hilton continued to battle the Moodys in court, the Moodys defaulted on the loan for the El Paso Hilton, and Conrad Hilton managed to raise the necessary $30,000 to buy back that hotel.

In 1934 Hilton settled with the Moodys, who lent him $95,000 and returned the Lubbock, Dallas, and Plainview hotels.

According to Conrad Hilton, while Depression-era hotel owners saved less than one hotel out of five, Hilton emerged with five of his eight hotels, and he met his debts by the summer of 1937.

In 1938, Hilton bought his first hotel outside of Texas, the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco.

In 1943, Hilton purchased the Roosevelt Hotel and the Plaza Hotel, both well-established high-end luxury hotels less than a mile apart in New York City's Midtown Manhattan neighborhood.

The company incorporated in 1946 as the Hilton Hotels Corporation, and subsequently began public trading of shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

1949: Hilton buys the lease on New York's Waldorf-Astoria.

The first European Hilton was opened in Madrid in 1953.

The Hotels Statler Company was acquired in 1954 for $111 million in what was then the world's most expensive real estate transaction.

In 1955, another overseas Hilton was opened, in Turkey, and the Continental Hilton of Mexico City opened the following year.

Hilton is credited with pioneering the airport hotel concept with the opening of the San Francisco Airport Hilton in 1959.

In 1964 Hilton International was spun off and became a public company with Conrad Hilton as its president.

In 1965, Hilton launched Lady Hilton, the first hotel concept created specifically for women guests.

In 1966 Hilton's son, William Barron Hilton--known as Barron--assumed the presidency.

In 1969, the first DoubleTree Hotel opened.

1970: The company buys two casino hotels in Las Vegas.

In 1971, Hilton acquired International Leisure Company, including the Las Vegas Hilton and Flamingo Hilton.

In 1973, the company launched a computerized hotel reservation dubbed "HILTRON." The system served not only the Hilton chain but was also employed by other chains in the industry, providing yet another source of revenue.

In 1975 Hilton sold a 50 percent interest in six major hotels to Prudential Life Insurance Company of America for $85 million.

In 1977 the purchase of the Waldorf-Astoria's building and land was finalized for $35 million.

Barron Hilton became chairman of the board. It put this capital to use in hotel improvements and in 1981, the $34.4 million purchase of another casino-hotel in Nevada, the Sahara Reno.

Having sold the international rights to the Hilton name, the corporation resumed international growth in 1982 under a new subsidiary, Conrad International Hotels.

In April 1985, before the rehearing took place, however, the hotel-casino was sold to Donald Trump at cost.

In 1986, it was sold to UAL Corp., the holding company for United Airlines, which became Allegis Corp. in an attempt to re-incarnate itself as a full-service travel company, encompassing Westin Hotels and Hertz rental cars in addition to Hilton International and United Airlines.

Hilton Honors (formerly Hilton HHonors), the company's guest loyalty program, was initiated in 1987.

A November 1988 settlement gave Barron Hilton four million of the disputed shares, a stake valued at $204 million.

In May 1989, Chairman Barron Hilton solicited bids for the chain.

In 1996 53-year-old Stephen F. Bollenbach became the first non-Hilton to guide the company.

On January 27, 1997, Hilton bid $55 per share for New York-based ITT Corporation, aiming primarily to acquire its ITT Sheraton subsidiary's 415 hotels and 14 casinos.

In 1998, Hilton spun off its gaming operations into a separate, publicly held company called Park Place Entertainment (later Caesars Entertainment, Inc.)

In 1999, Hilton acquired Promus Hotel Corporation, which included the DoubleTree, Red Lion, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites brands.

During 2000, the company formed a joint venture with Hilton Group plc to strengthen and expand its Conrad Hotels unit overseas.

While Hilton digested its Promus purchase, it faced challenges due to a weak economy as well as a slowdown in travel as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

While net income fell in 2003, sales increased by nearly 51 percent over the previous year--a sure sign that the company had a solid business strategy in place.

On February 23, 2006, the deal closed, making Hilton Hotels the world's fifth largest hotel operator in number of rooms.

On July 3, 2007, Hilton Hotels Corp. agreed to an all-cash buyout from the Blackstone Group LP in a $26 billion (including debt) deal that would make Blackstone the world's largest hotel owner.

In February 2009, Hilton Hotels Corp. announced that its headquarters were moving from Beverly Hills, California to Fairfax County, Virginia.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings was founded on March 18, 2010 and is headquartered in McLean, VA.“

On September 12, 2013, Hilton filed plans for a $1.25 billion IPO.”

The company announced in February 2016 that Hilton would turn its hotel holdings into a real estate investment trust.

The spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations were completed in January 2017.