Lisa Marie Presley Net Worth (Money & Salary)

What Was Lisa Marie Presley’s Net Worth?

At the time of her passing, Lisa Marie Presley, an American actress and singer, had a net worth of -$10 million. She sadly departed this life on January 12, 2023, due to cardiac arrest, making her 54 years old at the time. As the only offspring of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie also carved out her own successful career as a singer-songwriter. Moreover, she was recognized for her previous affiliations with the Church of Scientology and her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

You may be curious about how Lisa Marie could have a negative net worth at her demise. She revealed that in the years leading up to her death, she faced approximately $17 million in debt. An ex-husband argued that she actually had access to far greater wealth and utilized her debt as a tactic to evade substantial child and spousal support payments. Below is a brief overview of Lisa’s financial journey from the age of 9 until her passing, with more comprehensive details available later in this article.

After Elvis died in 1977 at the young age of 42, he bequeathed his entire estate to Lisa Marie. At just nine years old, she inherited. Unfortunately, due to extravagant expenditures and being taken advantage of by his long-term manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis was considerably less wealthy than popular belief suggests. Upon his passing, Elvis’s worth was actually $5 million. When various estate taxes, debts, and other charges were deducted, Lisa Marie received only $1 million from his estate, equivalent to about $5 million in today’s terms. While she was a minor, her mother, Priscilla, served as the sole executor of the estate for the following 16 years. Lisa Marie attained full control of the estate on her 25th birthday in 1990. Thanks to her mother’s astute financial decisions, Lisa Marie inherited $100 million, which amounts to around $220 million today. As discussed in more detail later, Lisa Marie eventually took legal action against a former business manager, alleging that he mismanaged her considerable wealth. In her lawsuit, she claimed that by 2015, the trust fund had diminished to just $14,000. The business manager pointed to Lisa Marie’s lavish spending as the cause, which reportedly drove her estate into a $20 million debt by 2003, necessitating his assistance to restore her finances. Her lawsuit against him was stalled due to COVID-19.

During a contentious divorce hearing in 2018, Lisa Marie reported being $16 million in debt, including $1 million owed to the IRS. In her court documents, she noted that she had $714,775 in stocks and bonds and maintained $85,266 in cash in her bank account. Her monthly expenses were estimated at approximately $92,000, which included $23,500 for rent and $1,700 for a Maserati car payment.

Simultaneously, her ex-husband Michael Lockwood, whom she was married to for a decade, claimed Lisa Marie received between $100,000 and $200,000 monthly from the Elvis Presley Enterprises trust. He further alleged that she was misrepresenting her financial status and that in reality, she still possessed a valuable trust potentially worth $65 million and held 15% ownership of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Additionally, Lisa Marie owned Graceland itself. As explored later in this article, owning Graceland has had its dualities both as a financial advantage and a burden. Their divorce was finalized in March 2021, but a year later, Lockwood requested that Lisa Marie submit tax returns to the court, suspecting she had covertly received $3-4 million as an advance for writing a book about her father and her relationship with him.

Jackson.

$35 Million Life Insurance

Following the tragic passing of Lisa Marie, reports revealed that she held three life insurance policies, which were set to provide her three surviving daughters with a combined total of $35 million.

Final Will & Estate

In 2016, Lisa Marie amended her will, excluding her mother Priscilla from inheriting any portion of her estate. She designated her children, Benjamin and Riley, as trustees. Following Benjamin’s suicide in 2020, Riley became the sole trustee, managing an estate that consists of a 15% interest in the revenues of Elvis Presley Enterprises and complete ownership of the Graceland mansion. Although she holds sole trustee status, her younger half-siblings will also have rights to a share of the estate upon reaching the age of 18.

After Lisa Marie’s death, Priscilla contested the 2016 amendments to the will, a move that reportedly enraged Riley. Priscilla cited concerns over the authenticity of the 2016 will, highlighting that a) Lisa Marie’s signature was inconsistent with previous ones, and b) the name “Priscilla” was misspelled at least once in the documentation.

In May 2023, an undisclosed settlement between Riley and Priscilla was reached, with speculation that the primary focus was on the $35 million in life insurance payouts.

Early Life

Born on February 1, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, Lisa Marie Presley lived with her mother after Priscilla and Elvis divorced.

Music Career

Lisa Marie launched her musical career with the album “To Whom It May Concern” in 2003, followed by her second album “Now What” in 2005, both of which enjoyed commercial success. In 2012, she released a third album titled “Storm & Grace.” Additionally, Presley collaborated with several renowned artists, including Kylie Minogue, Michael Buble, and Coldplay, and made appearances in music videos for songs by Michael Jackson and others.

Relationships and Children

In 1988, Lisa Marie wed Danny Keough, and they welcomed two children before their divorce in 1994. Tragically, their son Benjamin died by suicide in 2020 at the age of 27, while their daughter, Riley Keough, is an accomplished actress.

Presley was married to Michael Jackson in 1994, where she supported him through various personal challenges, but she filed for divorce in 1996. Following this, she became engaged to musician John Oszajca, only to later end that relationship to marry Nicolas Cage. Cage and Presley wed in 2002, but their marriage ended within the same year.

In 2006, she married Michael Lockwood and welcomed twins in 2008. By 2016, she sought divorce and sole custody of the children, citing the discovery of child pornography on Lockwood’s computer. Their divorce was not finalized until 2021.

Inheritance

At the age of nine, Lisa Marie became an heiress upon her father’s death. Elvis was notorious for his lack of financial prudence and extravagant spending, compounded by substantial losses at the hands of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who took a significant portion of Elvis’ earnings.

Upon his death, Elvis’ estate was valued at $5 million, approximately equal to $14 million today when adjusted for inflation. However, after settling various taxes, fees, and debts, his estate’s value dwindled to $1 million, all of which was passed on to Lisa Marie.

Priscilla, Lisa Marie’s mother and Elvis’ widow, served as the sole executor of the estate. She swiftly implemented strategies to restore the estate and improve its precarious condition by transforming Graceland into a museum. Remarkably, within a short period of time, she succeeded in…

four days postpartum from its inception, she had settled all of her debts and outstanding expenses.

At 25, when Lisa Marie became the heir to her father’s estate, its valuation stood at $100 million (which translates to roughly $220 million in today’s currency).

Lost Fortune

Rather than directly inherit the funds, Lisa Marie opted to create a revocable living trust and appointed Barry Seigel as her business manager to oversee the finances. In February 2005, Seigel facilitated a transaction that involved selling 85% of EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises), the entity responsible for managing all of Elvis’ image rights and royalties, for $100 million.

After deducting taxes and fees, Lisa Marie ended up with approximately $40 million. However, the transaction also involved $25 million in stock from the future holding company of “American Idol,” providing some positive amidst the losses.

Regrettably, the funds were completely depleted from 2005 to 2015. This decline was partly attributed to Lisa Marie’s lavish spending. She would later assert that her financial troubles stemmed from mismanagement by Seigel and other financial advisors, who incidentally earned annual salaries of $700,000.

Ultimately, after all was settled, Lisa Marie found herself with merely $14,000 remaining in the trust she had established. Reports also indicated that she was burdened with over $500,000 in credit card debt.

Lisa Marie Financial Problems

In defense, Barry Siegel maintained that Lisa Marie’s own extravagant spending habits were predominantly responsible for the estate’s significant losses. He asserted that he had regular business discussions with her to explain the ongoing issues and repeatedly urged her to curtail her expenses. Additionally, Siegel claimed that her excessive spending had plunged her estate into a $20 million deficit by 2003, which he had rectified.

Lisa Marie responded by stating that she was unaware of the estate’s situation; had Seigel properly informed her, she would have curbed her spending and immediately decreased his $700,000 salary. She argued that if she had access limited to only the estate’s income, she would have been able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle on an annual budget of $1.5 to $2.5 million. The ongoing legal confrontation was paused in 2020 due to Covid.

In 2018, during her divorce proceedings with Michael Lockwood, court documents disclosed that she was embroiled in $16 million worth of debt. Approximately $10 million of this debt was attributed to unpaid taxes from 2012 to 2015, while the remainder stemmed from credit card bills and outstanding legal fees. Lisa Marie initiated the filing after her ex demanded $450,000 to settle his own legal expenses.

In June 2022, Michael Lockwood asserted in legal documents that Lisa Marie remained the beneficiary of a highly valuable trust, potentially worth as much as $65 million. His filings stated:

“Presley has significant income for purposes of a child support calculation dueto continuing and recurring distributions Presley receives from her trust(s) and significant assets, which include her family business. Presley is the sole heir of Elvis Presley, a world-renowned entertainer recognized as one of show business’s most successful figures in history. By virtue of this inheritance, she holds ownership of Graceland, along with interests in Elvis’ recordings, songs, merchandise rights, and life story rights.“

Graceland

Graceland comprises a 14-acre estate in Memphis, which Elvis acquired for $102,500 in March 1957. This amount is comparable to approximately $1 million today. The mansion became the site of Elvis’ death in August 1977, where he is interred alongside other deceased members of the Presley family. Following his passing, to generate essential funds, Priscilla, Elvis’ widow, transformed the mansion into a museum accessible to the public. In 2006, Graceland earned the designation of a National Historic Landmark.

Approximately 500,000 visitors flock to Graceland each year, making it the second-most popular private residence in the U.S., surpassed only by the White House. However, this high volume of visitors does not consistently equate to financial prosperity. The operational, insurance, and maintenance costs of such a property are substantial. At one point, Graceland even threatened to relocate from Memphis unless the city offered a generous tax incentive. In response, the city granted a $104 million loan in 2017 for a significant expansion. Everything seemed to be on track until the COVID pandemic forced Graceland to close. During this closure, reports indicated that Graceland missed $20 million in debt payments.

Upon her death, Lisa Marie Presley owned 85% of Elvis Presley Enterprises, but she held 100% ownership of the actual Graceland mansion.

Kardashian Mansion

In December 1993, just three years after receiving her trust, Lisa Marie purchased two properties in Hidden Hills, California. For one parcel, she paid $2.6 million, and $625,000 for the other. The combined 3+ acre estate included an 8,000 square foot mansion.

Lisa Marie listed the property for sale in July 2010 for just under $7 million, ultimately accepting $5 million from a doctor in November 2010. The doctor then demolished the original home to construct a large 15,000-square-foot mansion in a French style.

By August 2014, the newly constructed mansion was sold for $20 million to… Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Kim and Kanye undertook yet another extensive renovation, which spanned several years. Following their divorce, Kim retained ownership of the mansion, which continues to serve as her primary residence.

In March 2020, Lisa Marie acquired a home in nearby Calabasas, California, for $1.8 million. She later sold this property in March 2022 for $2 million.

Death

On January 12, 2023, Lisa Marie Presley experienced cardiac arrest at her Calabasas, California, home around 10:30 a.m. Although CPR was performed, and her heart was restarted en route to West Hills Hospital, she ultimately passed away later that day at the age of 54. Her last public appearance took place two days prior at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, which she attended alongside her mother. Hundreds attended her public memorial service at Graceland, with over 1.5 million viewers participating via live stream. Lisa Marie was laid to rest in the Graceland Meditation Garden, next to her son, Benjamin, and adjacent to her father, Elvis. Among those present at the service, in addition to her mother and surviving children, were Axl Rose, Billy Corgan, Sarah, Duchess of York, Alanis Morissette, Baz Luhrmann, and Austin Butler.