What Was Lisa Marie Presley's Net Worth?
Lisa Marie Presley was an American actress and singer who had a net worth of -$10 million at the time of her death. Tragically, Lisa Marie Presley died on January 12, 2023, after suffering from a cardiac arrest. She was 54 years old. Lisa Marie was the only child born to Elvis Presley. Like her father, she was an accomplished singer-songwriter in her own right. She was also known for being a former member of the Church of Scientology and for her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.
You are probably wondering how Lisa Marie's net worth could have been negative at the time of her death. According to Lisa Marie herself, in recent years, she was drowning in as much as $17 million worth of debt. An ex-husband claimed that, in reality, she had access to much more wealth and that she was using her debt as a ploy to not pay him a significant child and spousal support. Below is a quick summary of Lisa's financial history from the age of 9 up to her death. We go into much more detail later in this article.
Elvis died in 1977 at the age of 42. He left his entire estate to Lisa Marie. She was nine years old at the time. After years of profligate spending and being bilked by his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis was much less rich than you might assume. At the time of his death, Elvis was worth $5 million. After various estate taxes, debts, and other fees, the total amount left to Lisa Marie was just $1 million. That's the same as around $5 million in today's dollars. Since she was just 9, her mother, Priscilla, acted as sole executor of the estate for the next 16 years. Lisa Marie inherited the full estate in 1990 on her 25th birthday. Thanks to her mother's savvy financial maneuvering, Lisa Marie ended up inheriting $100 million, which is the same as around $220 million today. As we detail later in this article, Lisa Marie eventually sued a former business manager, alleging that he squandered most of her massive fortune. She claimed in a lawsuit that the trust fund had been whittled down to just $14,000 by 2015. The business manager blamed Lisa Marie's own profligate spending, which had apparently pushed her estate in debt to the tune of $20 million by 2003, which he then had to dig her out of. Her lawsuit against the former business manager was put on hold due to COVID.
During a 2018 divorce court showdown, Lisa Marie claimed to be in debt to the tune of $16 million, including $1 million owed to the IRS. Her court filings claimed she controlled $714,775 worth of stocks and bonds and kept $85,266 in cash in a bank account. She further claimed to have roughly $92,000 worth of monthly expenses, including $23,500 for rent and $1,700 for the car payment on a Maserati.
At the same time, her ex-husband of 10 years, Michael Lockwood, alleged that Lisa Marie received around $100-200,000 per month from the Elvis Presley Enterprises trust. Lockwood further claimed that Lisa Marie was exaggerating her true financial picture and that, in reality, she still controlled a very valuable trust that could be worth as much as $65 million and continued to own 15% of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Lisa Marie also owned Graceland itself. As we detail later in this article, owning Graceland has also been somewhat of a blessing and a curse financially. Lisa Marie and Michael Lockwood's divorce was finalized in March 2021, but a year later, Lockwood demanded Lisa Marie provide tax returns to the court because he believed she had secretly received $3-4 million as an advance to write a book about her father and relationship with Michael Jackson.
$35 Million Life Insurance
In the weeks after Lisa Marie's untimely death, it was reported that she had three life insurance policies, which apparently would pay a total of $35 million to her three surviving daughters.
Final Will & Estate
In 2016, Lisa Marie made an amendment to her will that cut her mother, Priscilla, out of her estate. At this point, she named her children Benjamin and Riley as the trustees. Benjamin died by suicide in 2020. That left Riley as the sole trustee of an estate that includes a 15% share of all revenue generated by Elvis Presley Enterprises and 100% ownership of Graceland mansion. She is the sole trustee, but her younger half-siblings are also entitled to a share of the estate when they turn 18.
In the weeks and months after Lisa Marie's death, Priscilla contested the 2016 will amendments. This action reportedly infuriated Riley. Priscilla questioned the validity of the 2016 will because a) Lisa Marie's signature appeared different than it had in the past, and b) the name "Priscilla" was misspelled at least once in the documents.
In May 2023, Riley and Priscilla reached an undisclosed settlement that was believed to be primarily focused on the $35 million worth of life insurance payments.
Early Life
Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. After Priscilla Presley and Elvis divorced, Lisa Marie lived with her mother.
Music Career
Lisa Marie released her debut album, "To Whom It May Concern," in 2003. She followed up with "Now What" in 2005. Just like her debut album, her second album charted well. In 2012, she released a third album called "Storm & Grace." Outside of her solo work, Presley collaborated with a number of high-profile musicians, such as Kylie Minogue, Michael Buble, and Coldplay. In addition, she has appeared in music videos for songs by Michael Jackson and other musicians.
Relationships and Children
In 1988, Lisa Marie married Danny Keough. They had two children before divorcing in 1994. Their son, Benjamin, died by suicide in 2020 at the age of 27. Their daughter, Riley Keough, is an actress.
In 1994, Presley married Michael Jackson. She helped Jackson deal with a number of personal issues during their marriage but ultimately filed for divorce in 1996. Lisa Marie then became engaged to a musician named John Oszajca before abandoning the relationship to marry Nicolas Cage. Cage and Presley were married in 2002 and divorced later that year.
In 2006, she married Michael Lockwood. In 2008, she gave birth to twins. In 2016, she filed for divorce and sole custody of the children, claiming that she had discovered child pornography on Lockwood's computer. Their divorce proceedings were not finalized until 2021.
Inheritance
Lisa Marie was nine years old when her father died. During his life, Elvis was not concerned with financial responsibility, and he was famous for excessive spending. That being said, the Rock 'N Roll icon was also completely robbed by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was basically taking half of Elvis' earnings.
At the time of his death, Elvis' estate was worth $5 million. That's the same as around $14 million in today's money after adjusting for inflation. However, that amount shrunk to $1 million after various taxes, fees, and debts were paid down. His entire estate was left to Lisa Marie.
Elvis' widow, Priscilla (Lisa Marie's mother), acted as sole executor of his estate. Priscilla quickly set about rebuilding the estate and dealing with its dire situation. She took the innovative step of turning Graceland (Elvis' mansion) into a museum. Amazingly, within just four days after its creation she had paid off all debtors and owed expenses.
By the time Lisa Marie inherited her father's estate at age 25, it was worth $100 million (the equivalent of $220 million in today's money).
Lost Fortune
However, instead of inheriting the money directly, Lisa Marie chose to establish a revocable living trust and appointed a business manager named Barry Seigel to manage the funds. In February 2005, Seigel orchestrated a deal to sell 85% of EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises), an organization that managed all of Elvis' image rights and royalties, for $100 million.
After taxes and fees, Lisa Marie netted around $40 million. On the other hand, the deal included $25 million worth of stock in the future holding company of "American Idol," so it wasn't all bad.
Unfortunately, the money completely dried up between 2005 and 2015. Part of this was due to Lisa Marie's excessive spending habits. She would later claim that the financial problems were due to mismanagement by Seigel and other financial managers (who were earning salaries of $700,000 per year, incidentally).
When everything was said and done, Lisa Marie was left with just $14,000 in the trust she had established. She also reportedly had over $500,000 worth of credit card debt.
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Lisa Marie Financial Problems
By 2015, Lisa Marie had fired Barry Siegel. Two years later, she filed a lawsuit against the former business manager for allegedly squandering her $100 million fortune and leaving her broke. She argued that the EPE deal was ill-advised and that he failed to inform her about the true condition of the Presley estate.
In his defense, Barry Siegel claimed that Lisa Marie's excessive spending habits were the real reason behind the estate's massive losses. He also claimed to have had regular business meetings with her, during which he explained the developing situation and reminded her repeatedly to limit her spending. In addition, Seigel stated that her extreme spending habits actually put her estate $20 million in debt by 2003, which he corrected.
Lisa Marie countered by pointing out that she had no idea about the condition of her estate and that if Seigel had told her what was really going on, she would have limited her spending and immediately reduced his salary of $700,000. She argued that if she had been given access to only the estate's income, she would have been able to live comfortably on $1.5 to $2.5 million per year. In 2020, the ongoing legal battle was put on hold due to Covid.
In 2018, court documents from Lisa Marie's divorce proceedings with Michael Lockwood revealed that she was $16 million in debt. An estimated $10 million of the debt was related to unpaid taxes dating from 2012 to 2015. The rest of the debt was credit card bills and unpaid attorney fees. Lisa Marie filed the paperwork after her ex demanded $450,000 to cover his own legal fees.
In June 2022, Michael Lockwood claimed in filings that Lisa Marie was still the beneficiary of a very valuable trust. One that could be worth as much as $65 million. His legal filings claimed:
"Presley has significant income for purposes of a child support calculation due to continuing and recurring distributions Presley receives from her trust(s) and from the significant assets including her family business. Presley's father was Elvis Presley, a world-famous entertainer and one of the most successful people in show business history. Presley is Elvis' sole heir and, as such, is an owner of Graceland and interests in Elvis' recordings, songs, merchandise rights, and life story rights."
Graceland
Graceland is the 14-acre estate in Memphis that Elvis purchased for $102,500 in March of 1957. That's the same as around $1 million in today's dollars. Elvis died in the mansion in August 1977 and is entombed there next to other deceased members of the Presley family. After his Death, to raise much-needed funds, Elvis' widow Priscilla turned the mansion into a museum open to the public. Graceland became a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
A reported 500,000 people visit Graceland each year. It is the second most popular private home in the US, behind the White House. Unfortunately, that does not necessarily mean that Graceland is a financial success at all times. It is very expensive to operate, insure, and maintain such a property. At one point, Graceland threatened to up and leave Memphis altogether unless the city provided a generous tax incentive. The city obliged in 2017, granting a $104 million loan to be used for a massive expansion. All was well until the COVID pandemic, which forced Graceland to shut its doors. During that period, Graceland reportedly failed to pay $20 million worth of debt payments.
At the time of her death, Lisa Marie Presley owned 85% of Elvis Presley Enterprises BUT 100% of the actual Graceland mansion.
Kardashian Mansion
In December 1993, just three years after inheriting her trust, Lisa Marie bought two properties in Hidden Hills, California. She paid $2.6 million for one parcel and $625,000 for the second. The 3+ acre property featured an 8,000 square foot mansion.
Lisa Marie listed the property for sale in July 2010 for a little under $7 million. She ultimately accepted $5 million in November 2010 from a doctor. The doctor proceeded to tear down the home and build a sprawling 15,000-square-foot French-inspired mansion.
In August 2014, the doctor sold the newly built mansion for $20 million. The buyers were… Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Kim and Kanye performed yet another massive renovation that took years. Upon their divorce, Kim got the mansion. It is still her primary residence to this day.
In March 2020, Lisa Marie paid $1.8 million for a home in nearby Calabasas, California. She sold this home in March 2022 for $2 million.
Death
Lisa Marie Presley suffered cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California, on January 12, 2023, around 10:30 am. Her heart was restarted on the way to West Hills Hospital after CPR was administered, but she died later that day at the age of 54. Her last public appearance came two days before at the 80th Golden Globes Awards. She attended the show with her mother. Her public memorial service at Graceland was attended by hundreds, and more than 1.5 million people tuned in via live stream. Lisa Marie was buried in the Graceland Meditation Garden next to her son, Benjamin, and adjacent to her father, Elvis. In addition to her mother and surviving children, those in attendance at the service included Axl Rose, Billy Corgan, Sarah, Duchess of York, Alanis Morissette, Baz Luhrmann, and Austin Butler.
