Steven J. Hilton

Steven Joseph Hilton (born 1961) is an American business executive and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, executive chairman, and former CEO of Meritage Homes Corporation.

Early life and education
Hilton was born in Los Angeles, California in 1961. His father Samuel Hilton was a Holocaust survivor from Warsaw, Poland. Captured with Hilton’s grandfather by German SS soldiers in 1943, his father spent two years in five different concentration camps in Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, before being liberated by Soviet soldiers at Theresienstadt outside of Prague. The sole survivor of his family, Hilton’s father recuperated in an orphanage in Windermere, England before immigrating to the United States, eventually settling in Los Angeles.

Hilton was raised in the Los Angeles area and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona with his family at the age of 12. He attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale and in 1983, he graduated from the University of Arizona, where he earned a BA in accounting and finance. In 2022, he sold his Silverleaf home in Scottdale, Arizona.

Career
In 1985, Hilton and William Cleverly founded Monterey Homes, a single-family home construction company in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1996 they completed a reverse merger with Homeplex Mortgage Investments, becoming a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In mid-1997, the company was renamed Meritage Homes Corporation. Meritage went on to acquire eight homebuilding companies throughout the United States between 1997 and 2005. The company grew from producing fewer than 300 homes a year in 1996 to over 10,500 homes in 2005, with revenue of $3.5B. In 2005, the company was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 10 fastest growing companies in America. Under Hilton's leadership, Meritage became an industry leader in energy efficient homebuilding and was awarded the United States Department of Energy's Energy Star Partner of the Year for 10 years.

In 2011, Hilton headed Meritage's Green Program rollout, starting in the Phoenix market and eventually extending to all of Meritage’s competitive markets in seven states. The Meritage Green approach integrates cutting-edge energy-efficient materials and technologies, a streamlined strategic sourcing program, efficient home construction methods, targeted and dynamic marketing efforts, and expedited local permitting and approval processes facilitated by the green nature of these new communities. In 2012, Builder Magazine named Hilton CEO of the Year. Under Hilton's leadership, Meritage weathered the Great Depression of 2007 and in 2022 delivered more than 14,000 home.

At the time he retired as CEO of Meritage in January 2021 the company had a $4B market capitalization. Hilton now serves as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Meritage.

Hilton was named a University of Arizona Entrepreneurial Fellow in 2006. He has served as a director of Western Alliance Bancorp, a community bank, from 2004 to 2022.

Philanthropy
Since 1993, Hilton and his family have contributed to several local and national organizations devoted to causes including Jewish community activities, medical research, and education. He led efforts to develop the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, which opened in 2002. He also contributed to and led the development of the King David Community Day School (now Pardes Jewish Day School), which opened in 2006.

Hilton served as a director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix from 1993–2003 and served on the King David Community Day School Board of Directors from 1995 to 2003. Since 1995, he has served as Foundation Trustee and member of the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. He currently serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banner Health Foundation and on the Board of the TGen Foundation and the National Pancreatic Cancer Advisory Council. Hilton has been a minority owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns since 2004.

Personal life
Hilton married Suzanne Dube in 2003. He has four children: Shari, Eva, Sophie, and Harrison.