As a member of the media, I'm a little embarrassed at this morningâ€â„¢s news reports on Barron Hilton's donation of $1.2 billion to charity. Instead of focusing on this tremendous act of kindness, nearly every one of the consumer press reports discussed how the donation—and a another one of $1.1 billion heâ€â„¢ll make in the future—will affect the inheritance of Hilton's granddaughter, celebrity do-nothing Paris Hilton.
In making the announcement, Barron said he will eventually give 97 percent of his entire net worth to charity, namely the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation his father established in 1944. His heirs in the Hilton family, including Paris, will need to split the balance of his fortune among themselves. Presumably, many of them have made their own mark, and fortunes, in the world and don't need a handout from grandpa.
While the Hilton name is synonymous with quality hotels, it is even more newsworthy that the family, at least patriarch Conrad and his son Barron, have been so generous with their hard-earned fortune. I wish the media would focus on that fact, and not on that no-good idiot of a woman who just happens to share their good name.