Kudos to Grandpa! Make them learn to earn a living and a reputable reputation, not drag the Family name into mud.


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hotel heiress Paris Hilton's potential inheritance dramatically diminished after her grandfather Barron Hilton announced plans on Wednesday to donate 97 percent of his $2.3 billion fortune to charity.

That wealth includes $1.2 billion Barron Hilton stands to earn from both the recent sale of Hilton Hotels Corp. -- started by his father Conrad in 1919 when he bought a small hotel in Cisco, Texas -- and pending sale of the world's biggest casino company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

That money will be placed in a charitable trust that will eventually benefit the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, raising its total value to about $4.5 billion, the foundation said in a statement.

Barron Hilton, chairman of the foundation, intends "to contribute 97 percent of his entire net worth, estimated today at $2.3 billion, including the created trusts, at whatever value it is at the time of his passing," the foundation said.

Paris Hilton was not immediately available for comment on her grandfather's plans for his fortune.

Jerry Oppenheimer, who profiled the Hilton family in his 2006 book "House of Hilton," has said Barron Hilton is embarrassed by the behavior of his socialite granddaughter Paris and believes it has sullied the family name.

Barron Hilton, who is 80, has not commented on Oppenheimer's remarks.

The foundation supports projects that provide clean water in Africa, education for blind children, and housing for the mentally ill. Its aims, based on Conrad Hilton's will, are "to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute."

"Speaking for the family as well as the foundation, we are all exceedingly proud and grateful for this extraordinary commitment," said Steven Hilton, one of Barron's sons and president and chief executive of the foundation.

Conrad Hilton established the foundation in 1944 and when he died in 1979 left virtually all of his fortune -- including, according to media reports at the time, a 27 percent controlling stake in Hilton Hotels -- to the charity.

But Barron Hilton challenged the will and after a nearly decade-long legal struggle reached an out-of-court settlement to split ownership of the shares with the foundation in 1988, The New York Times reported.

The hotel group was sold for $20 billion in October to private equity firm Blackstone Group, while the acquisition of Harrah's -- of which Barron Hilton was a board member until 2006 -- is due to be completed by Apollo Management and TPG Capital in early 2008.

Paris, a symbol of celebrity privilege in America, gained notoriety in 2003 when a home video of her having sex with a boyfriend was posted on the Internet.

She parlayed her notoriety, fueled by tabloid headlines about her partying lifestyle, into a celebrity career that has included a reality television show, a book, a music album, and film roles. Then this year she spent more than three weeks in jail for violating probation in a drunk-driving case.

(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric Walsh)

Good for him! But the sad reality is, his family, if they contest it and site old age and diminesed mental ability, it could take YEARS in court. )-:

I hope that the rest of the family miss Wildchild has no issue with it then for the sake of not going in that direction. I feel Paris Doesn't deserve anymore riches to make her stupid mind think she doesn't have to work like the rest of us. Renee Zellweger commented on the likes of Paris and others. I don't have an exact quote,but it was basically along the lines of these types of people give a lot a bad name and a lot of us(In hollywoood) actually worked hard to become what we are now(famous). So in other words Renee was bashing those that didn't get celebrity for any particular reason or any actual real job but for parading around in their panties. Paris really does ****. I mean she gives people who have real careers a bad name LIKE Renee said. There are musicians and actors who worked all the way from the bottom to get to the "top" and worked their butts off like everyone else had to, but Paris had her film and music career pratically handed to her. I feel that if Grandpa can stick to this without any of the family members complaining then it'd be good for old Paris. She'd have to **** it up and stop parting and actually "WORK" on her film making and album recordings. I was told she learned the guitar for one of her albums. Good she doesn't have a bad voice actually I heard it without the record enhancements that make every pop star sound fantastic. So perhaps she'll actually take this time to use that guitar, actually sing with very little overproduction on her album and perhaps write her own lyrics and "earn that credibility" maybe? Well well see.

I'm glad Barron Hilton changed his will. I hope the family does not pull the "well he's old" thing! Maybe this will wake Paris up,who knows! I do know LMP was born into money & has made it on her on & that's why I Love & Respect her So Very Much. She has also raised her children in the same fashion! She has never acted like she was better than anyone else! YOU ROCK LMP!!

woohooo!!! here's a word for ya Paris, WORK!! LOL