Elvis Presley mania kicked off in the mid-1950s, but decades after his death, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll remains a major cultural touchstone. For that, we can partially thank his ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, who turned Elvis Presley Enterprises into a profitable business and opened Graceland to the public.
Interest into Priscilla’s own fascinating life has been especially high in the past year. The 2023 biopic Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Cailee Spaeny, chronicled her early years, plus she was involved in a dramatic court dispute with her granddaughter Riley Keough regarding her late ex-husband’s estate.
Priscilla and Keough reached a settlement that made Keough the sole trustee of the estate and owner of Graceland in August 2023, and this past October, a judge gave final approval on the deals financial terms. Now that everything’s official, let’s look at Priscilla Presley’s total net worth—which, much like Austin Butler’s Elvis voice, is impressive and long-lasting.
Priscilla got a pretty penny from her divorce settlement with Elvis
Priscilla and Elvis were married for six years. According to Celebrity Net Worth, when they divorced in October 1973, she received a one-time payment of $725,000. On top of that, Priscilla was granted spousal support, child support, 5 percent of Elvis’ royalties, and half the money from the sale of their Beverly Hills, California, house. For what it’s worth, Priscilla and Elvis remained close friends following the split.
She has earned money as an actor and author
On top of producing a ton of movies, Priscilla started a fragrance line, as well as a line of clothing and skincare products, in the late 1990s. A couple of her perfumes seem to be available on Amazon.
She also sat on the Board of Directors of MGM and has several acting credits under her belt, including a long-running stint on Dallas as Jenna Wade Krebbs. After five seasons, she left the show and went on to star in three Naked Gun movies.
In 1985, Presley published a best-selling book about her life with Elvis, aptly titled Elvis and Me, which served as the basis for Coppola’s movie. Priscilla was an executive producer of the film.
Priscilla is still involved in Elvis’ very complicated estate
When Elvis died in August 1977, his struggling estate was worth just $4.9 million. Two years later, when Priscilla became executor, the estate was making a mere $1 million per year. She majorly turned things around by transitioning Graceland from a private home into a busy tourist attraction. By 1993, when Elvis and Priscilla’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, took control of her inheritance at age 25, the family fortune had grown to a reported $100 million.
Priscilla’s net worth became more complicated following the Lisa Marie’s untimely death in January 2023. The family went through some drama regarding an amendment to Lisa Marie’s will about ownership of Graceland and Elvis’ intellectual property rights, which The Hollywood Reporter noted “may generate future revenue for her heirs in the form of postmortem book deals and movies.”
Priscilla’s grandchildren—Riley Keough and her half-sisters, Harper and Finley Lockwood—inherited Graceland and the Presley family trust from their mother. But weeks after Lisa Marie’s death, Priscilla filed a petition to challenge her daughter’s will; an earlier version had named her a beneficiary. The situation was reportedly very messy, but the good news? In May 2023, Presley and Keough reached a settlement, and a source told Us Weekly that “Riley and Priscilla are at peace in their relationship after the very stressful ordeal over Lisa Marie’s trust and estate.” Keough confirmed as much in an interview with Vanity Fair published in August 2023.
So what did said settlement consist of? Thanks to the final court proceedings in late October 2023, we now know Presley received a payment of $1 million, plus an additional sum of up to $400,000 to cover her legal fees. On top of that, she has been retained as a “special adviser” to the Promenade Trust for $100,000 annually. Oh, and Presley secured herself a Graceland burial, nearby her ex, daughter, and late grandson Benjamin Keough.
In June 2023, Presley shared a photo of her grandchildren on Instagram, making it clear they’re on good terms:
Her real estate holdings make up a good chunk of her net worth
Presley reportedly sold her parents’ home for $3.6 million in 2019 and, just one year later, sold her Beverly Hills home for $13 million. She still calls Los Angeles home though. She bought and moved into a $4.8 million penthouse in Century City.
So, what is Priscilla Presley’s total net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Priscilla Presley has a total net worth of $10 million as of May 2024. That number definitely would have been higher had she inherited more of Elvis’ trust last year, but she’s doing just fine.
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
Adrienne directs the daily news operation and content production for Biography.com. She joined the staff in October 2022 and most recently worked as an editor for Popular Mechanics, Runner’s World, and Bicycling. Adrienne has served as editor-in-chief of two regional print magazines, and her work has won several awards, including the Best Explanatory Journalism award from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers. Her current working theory is that people are the point of life, and she’s fascinated by everyone who (and every system that) creates our societal norms. When she’s not behind the news desk, find her hiking, working on her latest cocktail project, or eating mint chocolate chip ice cream.
