During season 12 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the Kathy Hilton you know and love caused some major drama. After appearing on the show as a “friend” of the group, the fabulous matriarch officially joined the girl gang as a cast member. (However, I’m not sure how “friendly” everyone is feeling, RN. In fact, I’m going to need some time to process everything that happened during the season 12 reunion’s final segment last night.
Meanwhile, RHOBH fans are eager to learn more about Kathy’s lavish lifestyle and what contributes to her hefty net worth, which supports this Hilton’s extravagant habits.
If you watch the show on a regular basis, you know Kathy, 63, and her super-famous family, is, well, really rich. The other housewives even call her out for her wealth sometimes—and, as it turns out, her net worth is nothing to sneeze at (but more on that later).
But, aside from her appearance on the show, where does Kathy’s money come from? Continue reading to learn more about her numerous sources of income and how much this hospitality industry titan is worth:
Kathy married into the wealthy Hilton family at the age of 20.
Kathy and her half-sister, fellow RHOBH cast member Kyle Richards, both started out as child actors. (And there was definitely some family drama this season.)
Kathy first met Rick, her future husband, when she was 15 years old. Rick Hilton is the grandson of Hilton hotel founder Conrad Hilton. According to Business Insider, he already had a lot of money when he met Kathy.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the couple married five years later, in 1979. According to The Wall Street Journal, Kathy was working in the banquet and sales department at the Waldorf Astoria hotel for $160 per week.
Kathy and Rick’s daughters, Nicky and Paris Hilton (who are also extremely successful business owners), are the current heirs of Hilton Hotels, which Life & Style Mag estimates has around $16 billion in total assets.
Kathy used to own a gift and antique shop.
Kathy opened The Staircase, a gift and antique shop on Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles, California, shortly after marrying Rick. Kathy made a brief return to show business after a decade of managing the store.early 2000s.right (and artist Andy Warhol to Rick’s left):
First, she got a job as a QVC host. According to IMDb, she then went on to host the reality show I Want to Be a Hilton. She had a few other acting gigs, including hosting on QVC’s rival shopping network, HSN, and starring as herself in an episode of the soap opera The Young and the Restless. In addition, she appeared in the first (and only) season of her daughter’s reality show, The World According to Paris, in 2011, as well as Cooking with Paris in 2021. These certainly provided Kathy with some spending money, but the larger checks arrived later.
She later went on to become a fashion designer.
Kathy began designing cocktail and party dresses for her label, the Kathy Hilton Collection, in 2012. “My inspiration comes from designing beautiful dresses that look like a million dollars but don’t cost a fortune. “These dresses are inexpensive, classic, and timeless,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.
“I wanted to design dresses that would be appropriate for myself, my sisters who are a little younger than me, my daughters, my nieces, their friends, my friends, and women of all ages,” Kathy explained.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the dresses ranged in price from $395 to 750 and were available at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and online. “I think it’s nice to bring back the ladylike, fun, feminine, with an edge and sexiness, and something fresh and new. That’s why every store took my line. They said it was so new. It’s distinct, “Kathy elaborated.A global line of high-end dresses available in approximately 400 stores? Kathy is going to make a lot of money.
Her husband also made a lot of real estate investments.
Kathy’s fortune is, of course, linked to her husband’s enormous fortune. While Kathy was making a name for herself on television and the runway, Rick turned to real estate to supplement his income.