Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie Presley, who died January 12 at the age of 54, leaves behind a legacy of rock ‘n’ roll — including a rocky financial path riddled with losses and legal battles over money .
A singer-songwriter like her father, Presley wasn’t wealthy enough to make Forbes’ list of the highest-paid entertainers, while some celebrity websites even estimated that she may have had negative net worth when she died.
But Presley still owned Graceland, Elvis Presley’s estate that is now a tourist attraction, through a trust now inherited by her children, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a Graceland spokesman.
A detailed look at her financial situation came in 2018 when she sued her former manager Barry Siegel, claiming he mismanaged her finances, causing her trust to drop from $100 million to $14,000 by 2016 US dollars in cash shrank. The lawsuit also alleged that Presley amassed $500,000 in credit card debt, according to Portal.
Beginning in 2005, Presley suffered an “11-year odyssey to financial ruin,” the lawsuit alleged. “Lisa was damaged at an amount not yet fully determined, but is believed to be in excess of $100 million.”
The lawsuit followed her 2021 divorce from musician Michael Lockwood. During the divorce proceedings, Presley claimed she owed $16 million in debt, with most of it stemming from unpaid taxes, according to TMZ.
Presley blamed the root cause of her financial troubles on a 2005 deal to sell an 85 percent interest in the Elvis Presley Estate (EPE) to CKX, an entertainment company that also owned the television show American Idol.
Singer and actress Lisa Marie Presley arrives at the premiere of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ at the Chinese Theater on May 7, 2015 in Hollywood, California., CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images
Of course, Presley wasn’t left empty handed in the deal: She received $50 million plus stock in CKX, along with a 15 percent stake in EPE and the title of Graceland, the Associated Press reported at the time. CKX was later sold to Apollo Global Management for $509 million.
But Presley’s lawsuit alleged Siegel put his own financial interests ahead of her own, claiming he used the trust’s money to buy a $9 million English home but jeopardized that stake when he wasn’t in the Was able to pay a $6.7 million balloon payment, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.
Meanwhile, Siegel countered in his own lawsuit that Presley’s financial troubles were the result of her own missteps. The lawsuit claimed she “wasted her inheritance twice over” and blamed her “wastrel ways,” Portal said.
But Presley, who was nine when her father died, remained the sole owner of Graceland, the Memphis Commercial Appeal said. And her 15% stake in EPE is likely to continue generating steady income as Elvis Presley is ranked the #4 highest-earning dead celebrity by Forbes in 2022.
Presley said last year she made nearly $104,000 a month from “Elvis Enterprises,” according to Yahoo, citing legal documents uncovered by The Blast.