Lisa Marie Sells Elvis Estate

Fri., Dec. 17, 2004 12:30 PM PST by Sarah Hall

The King may be dead, but he's still bringing in the big bucks from the grave.

Lisa Marie Presley, sole heir to Elvis, announced Thursday that she has sold the bulk of her father's estate, including his name and likeness to SFX Entertainment founder Robert F. X. Sillerman, in a deal worth close to $100 million.

Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., which brought in almost $45 million last year, will become part of a publicly traded company; to be called CKX Inc.

EPE was originally founded by Priscilla Presley in 1980, three years after her ex-husband's death, when Lisa Marie was still a child.

Though Elvis is number one on Forbes magazine's list of top-earning dead celebrities, Sillerman thinks the musical icon's legacy can do even better--and he's willing to put his money where his mouth is.

Proving that sentimentality is not entirely dead, Presley will hold onto Graceland and the 13 acres it sits on, as well as her father's personal effects.

She'll net $53 million in cash from the deal, and will be absolved of $25 million in debts owed by the estate. She'll also get shares in the new company expected to be worth another $20 million.

"For the past few years, I've been looking for someone to join forces with to expand the many facets of EPE, to take it to new levels internationally and to make it an even greater force in the entertainment industry," Presley said in a statement.

"I feel confident that Bob Sillerman and his team are the right people to do this with. My greatest responsibility to my father is to preserve and protect his legacy, and this is an exciting new structure that opens up an incredible array of opportunities with a major infusion of new investment capital to do just that," she said.

Diehard Elvis aficionados need not get all shook up. Life at Graceland will reportedly change very little, and most of those changes will be imperceptible to the 650,000 visitors who flock there each year.

Thousands of fans still return to the property each August to mark the anniversary of the singer's death.

"It's like Monticello or Mount Vernon," EPE manager Jack Soden told People magazine. "We're preserving history here. And just because there's new management doesn't mean there's going to be a change."

If Elvis were still alive today, he'd be celebrating his 70th birthday next month on Jan. 8.