Conrad Hilton left his hotel shares to his foundation, and his son Barron spent 10 years in court winning them back

Conrad Hilton founded the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1944 and made it the principal beneficiary of his estate. His will also gave his son Barron, chairman of Hilton Hotels, an option to buy the hotel stock. The option was litigated for nine years^†. A court upheld Barron's right to exercise it in March 1988. A negotiated settlement in November 1988 ended the case. Of the stock's $654 million market value, Barron received about $334 million and the foundation $320 million. Barron got 4 million shares outright and 60% of the income from 6 million shares held in trust for his life; the foundation got 3.5 million shares and 40% of that income. The executors distributed about 13.5 million shares in May 1989. Barron then held 25% and voted another 9%. Hilton stock rose $6.50 to $72 as bankers called about a sale. In 2007 Blackstone bought Hilton Hotels for about $20 billion in equity. Barron pledged 97% of his $2.3 billion fortune to his father's foundation and put $1.2 billion into a charitable trust at once. He died on 19 September 2019. The foundation held $7.36 billion in 2024, chaired by Linda Hilton.