The sudden death of Lisa Marie Presley revealed a complex web of debt, legal battles and a scam that nearly cost her family home, Graceland.
The only child of the late Elvis Presley died in 2023 at the age of 54 from complications of a small bowel obstruction.
Once estimated to have a $US300million ($A447 million) fortune, the singer had a shocking net worth of negative $US10 million ($A15 million) at the time of her passing.
Here’s a breakdown of how Lisa Marie almost lost her family estate and squandered her fortune.
RELATED: ‘Alone’: Sad truth on broke Elvis before death
Presley’s girl exposes life at MJ’s Neverland
Elvis home exactly how he left it after $5.6m row
Lisa Marie Presley had a net worth of negative $US10 million at the time of her death. Picture: Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images
Elvis bought the home for just $US102,500 in 1957. Picture: EPE
How did Lisa Marie Presley inherit Graceland?
After Elvis’ death in 1977, Graceland was left to Lisa Marie, as part of her eye-watering inheritance.
She received her inheritance in a trust on her 25th birthday, effectively becoming the sole owner of the estate, according to the New York Post.
In addition to the property, Lisa Marie received $US100 million ($A150 million). But due to mismanagement and bad investments, she said almost all of the money soon disappeared.
Since Elvis almost lost Graceland due to his debts, Lisa Marie was determined the property would not suffer the same fate.
The musician formed a new trust, dubbed The Elvis Presley Trust, along with her mother Priscilla Presley. The trust was also formed with the help of the National Bank of Commerce.
After Elvis’ death in 1977, Graceland was left to Lisa Marie, as part of her eye-watering inheritance. Picture: Wikimedia Commons
After Lisa Marie died Graceland went to her three daughters, Riley, Harper and Finley.
Lisa Marie shared Riley and her late son Benjamin, who died by suicide in 2020, with Danny Keough. She was married to Keough from 1988 to 1994.
The late singer shared her twins with ex-husband Michael Lockwood. The pair were married for a decade after tying the knot in 2006.
Speaking in 2013, Lisa Marie said she will see to it that the property “will never be sold.”
“Graceland was given to me and will always be mine,” she told USA Today at the time. And then passed to my children.”
Lisa Marie Presley with her children. Picture: lisamariepresley/Instagram
How Lisa Marie Presley lost her fortune?
At the time of tragic death, Lisa Marie had squandered an estimated $US100 million ($A150 million) fortune and owed more than $US1 million ($A1.5 million) in taxes.
Legal documents obtained by the Blast show that the entertainer declared to have $US95,266 ($A142,271) in cash and $US714,775 ($A1,067,537) worth of stocks, bonds and other assets.
However, in the same documents, she cited a $US1 million ($A1.5 million) debt to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), clearly putting her in the red.
Meanwhile, Lisa Marie declared $104,000 ($A155,000) in monthly earnings from Elvis Presley Enterprises — a company in which she had a 15 per cent stake.
She also stated that she was making $US4,361 ($A6,512) a month as “an employee” of Graceland.
But the court documents also revealed that what Lisa Marie spent monthly was enormous and that she was unable to save almost any of her income.
The mum of four said she had a whopping $US92,000 ($A137,000) in total monthly expenses, including $US23,500 ($A35,103) for rent and $US1,708 ($A2,551) for payments on a luxe Maserati sports car.
At the time of tragic death, Lisa Marie had squandered an estimated $US100 million. Picture: Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images
Rather than cash the money out at the time of her inheritance, Lisa Marie chose to appoint outside moneymen to handle Elvis Presley Enterprises.
She later hired Barry Siegel, a high-powered business manager who boasted an array of celebrity clients.
In 2005, Lisa Marie sold off an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, allegedly at Mr Siegel’s behest.
The decision meant the daughter would relinquish almost all control of the company responsible for her father’s legacy.
Lisa Marie later sued Mr Siegel, saying he placed the payout she received “in risky ventures in hopes of attaining his own celebrity in the entertainment industry.”
She also accused him of “reckless and negligent mismanagement and self-serving ambition.”
Mr Siegel fired back, telling the Blast in 2019 that the deal to sell off her 85 per cent stake “cleared up over $20 million ($A30 million) in debts Lisa Marie had incurred.”
He also claimed it “netted her over $40 million ($A60 million) cash and a multimillion-dollar income stream, most of which she managed to squander.”
Rather than cash the money out at the time of her inheritance, Lisa Marie chose to appoint outside moneymen to handle Elvis Presley Enterprises. Picture: Scott Gries/Getty Images
How Graceland almost sold in a scam?
In September 2025, a scammer was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after plotting to defraud Lisa Marie’s family out of millions of dollars and auction off Graceland.
Lisa Jeanine Findley posing as a bogus investor who claimed the rights to Graceland, according to court documents obtained by the NY Post.
Ms Findley, from Missouri, fabricated a claim that Lisa Marie had pledged Graceland to her as collateral for a $US3.8 million ($5.7 million) loan she hadn’t repaid before her death.
The con artist then threatened to auction off the famed tourist landmark if the Presley family refused to cough up $US2.8 million ($A4.1 million) to settle the fictitious claim.
A scammer plotted to defraud Lisa Marie’s family out of millions of dollars and auction off Graceland. Picture: Memphis Tourism
Findley posed as a man named “Kurt Naussany” of a fake financial company, “Naussany Investments and Private Lending,” and fabricated documents with Lisa Marie’s signature to attempt to pull off the scheme.
She even boldly published a fraudulent foreclosure notice for Graceland in The Commercial Appeal, one of Memphis’s daily newspapers, announcing that the fake company planned to auction the historic property off in May 2024.
A judge blocked the sale after Lisa Marie’s daughter and sole heir, Riley, filed a lawsuit, arguing the loan was fake and not executed by her mother.
As Ms Findley’s scheme unravelled, she desperately attempted to pin the blame for the foreclosure sale attempt on a Nigerian identity thief.
Reporters at media organisations received bizarre emails from someone posing as the swindlers, claiming to be identity thieves, NBC reported.
The Graceland grifter had a long record of romance scams, forged checks, and bank fraud totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even previously spent time in federal prison for taking out false loans.
A judge blocked the sale after Lisa Marie’s daughter and sole heir, Riley, filed a lawsuit, arguing the loan was fake and not executed by her mother. Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Family disputes
Riley has been forced to deal with a load of chaos since her mum’s passing.
Priscilla challenged a 2016 document that removed her from Lisa Marie’s multi million-dollar trust and brought in Riley as sole trustee, Page Six reports.
Four months after Lisa Marie’s death, it was reported that Riley settled with her grandmother for “millions” amid familial tension.
Priscilla Presley and her daughter Lisa Marie Presley Picture: Tim Sloan/Getty Images
The Daisy Jones & The Six star agreed to pay her grandmother a lump sum of $US1 million ($A1.5 million), plus $US400,000 ($A600,000) in legal fees, to become the sole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate.
The agreement also allows Priscilla, who divorced Elvis in 1973, to be buried at Graceland.
As Keough told Vanity Fair in 2023, “When my mum passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives.
“Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us …
“We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family,” she added, “So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had.”
Parts of this story first appeared in the New York Post and Page Six and were republished with permission.
MORE: Surprise fortune Bardot left behind revealed
‘Ran away’: Real reason 80s icon disappeared
George Michael left $193m, secret Aus home
Need to talk to someone?
Don’t go it alone.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au
Beyond Blue’s coronavirus support service: 1800 512 348 or coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au
Headspace: 1800 650 890 or headspace.org.au
English (US) · 