Hilton Patriarch to Donate 97% of Fortune

First I read that Barron Hilton, son of the international hotel chain’s founder Conrad N Hilton, is following in his father’s footsteps and donating 97% of his wealth to the family foundation, in USA Today. I then clicked to see the other 353 articles on the Google News search, and found that most articles were titled something like Paris Hilton to be Devoid of Fortune or Paris Won’t Get her Hands on Hilton Fortune. We all know that Paris sells newspapers, but come on…it’s not like Paris is suddenly sleeping in a cardboard box.

Let’s give the philanthropist some props here. I love it when rich people share the wealth. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation will receive an immediate $1.2-billion donation, with an estimated $1.1-billion to follow after his death. Hilton’s son Steven M. Hilton, president and chief executive of the organization told reporters “Working to alleviate human suffering around the globe regardless of race, religion or geography, is the mandate of the foundation set by my grandfather…and now reinforced by my father.” Projects have included programs to house the mentally ill, increase access to safe drinking water in Africa and Mexico, and a recent $1.6 million grant to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The foundation also awards the worlds largest humanitarian grant each  year, $1.5 million. This year the recipient, Tostan, is a West African organization that works to educate people with little or no formal schooling and combat female genital mutilation. Sounds good right? Well it did until I checked out the Fund for Sisters which operates under the auspices of the anti-choice Los Angeles Archdiocese to give relatively small grants (no more than 15k) to women's projects around the world.

The remaining 3% of Hilton’s fortunate will be split between the 23 grandchildren. Of course Paris has created her own empire with TV reality shows, movie cameo’s, a hit CD and lots of tv ads. I think Paris will be just fine with her inheritance. What I want to know is what percentage of her empire will she donate? (Hey Paris, CA NOW can use some dough!)