Hilton’s Massive IPO, 10 Years Later: Top Takeaways

Hilton's IPO on December 11, 2013 was the largest ever for a hotel company, and none has beaten it since. Here are 10 key facts and anecdotes framing why it was such a significant moment for the industry.

1. It was the biggest hotel IPO ever.

Hilton raised $2.35 billion when it went public. Since then, the only significant hotel IPO was from Playa Hotels & Resorts, which raised $176 million March 2017. Sonder raised $310 million in a SPAC deal in January 2022.

That's a humbling track record for hotel companies like Aimbridge, Al Habtoor, Aman, CitizenM, Highgate, Minor, Nordic Choice, Pan Pacific Hotels Group*, Rosewood, and Oyo that might like to go public someday.

For a sense of scale, Hilton went public with an equity value of $19.7 billion. The closest the hotel sector has seen to that since then was in 2021, when Oyo, the India-based hotel company, aspired to have an IPO that would value it at up to $12 billion.

Oyo has since changed its tune. Market turmoil, rising interest rates for debt, and struggles with profitability have slashed Oyo's aspirations, delaying its IPO plans indefinitely. It was most recently hoping to raise between $400 million and $600 million in the IPO, or a fifth of what Hilton raised.

2. Company culture matters.

Hilton had been flailing in 2007 when Blackstone took it private. Blackstone hired Christopher Nassetta to lead a turnaround.

To fix a broken company culture, Nassetta moved the company from Beverly Hills to McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and only brought along 130 of the 600 employees.

From day one, Nassetta's focus has been on company culture. In a hospitality business, it's critical to have happy, engaged workers at all levels. Hilton didn't in 2007.

Hilton was recently named the No. 1 World’s Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work.

Company culture is often just an empty phrase, so it's worth dwelling a bit on Hi