Elvis at 69: Richer than ever
By Alanna Nash • Special to Bankrate.com

Alanna Nash has written biographies of Dolly Parton and Jessica Savitch and authored "Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations of the Memphis Mafia," and "Elvis: From Memphis to Hollywood," with Presley confidante Alan Fortas. Her most recent work, "The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley," has gained critical acclaim as well as significant media and fan attention with its new revelations about the Colonel and insights into his psychological make-up. The following look at the finances of Presley, his estate and The Colonel was written for Bankrate.com.

As Elvis fans around the world observe what would have been his 69th birthday Jan. 8, "The King" is far richer today under the direction of his ex-wife, Priscilla, than he ever would have been under the manipulative control of his Svengali-like manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

For the third year in a row, according to "Forbes" magazine, Elvis is the top-earning dead celebrity. In 2003, all things Elvis raked in some $40 million, adding to the Presley estate's estimated worth of $250 million.

Graceland will celebrate the late rock 'n' roller's phenomenal career and still-surging popularity with four days of events, kicking off a year-long marketing campaign that will continue to position Presley as an international icon of seemingly limitless appeal.

2004: a big financial hit

"The year 2004 will be one of the five best years for Elvis since his death in 1977," says Bill E. Burk, publisher of "Elvis World" magazine and the author of 12 Presley books. "A year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Elvis' first record, 'That's All Right (Mama),' will bring thousands to Graceland's gates, both in January for the celebration of his birthday, and in August, the 27th anniversary of his death."

According to Burk, 600,000 visitors a year pay Graceland admission fees totaling $9.6 million just to view the house. Then they're turned loose in the Graceland gift shops, where sales are estimated to be upward of $12 million per year. It all adds up to a tourist dollar impact of $126 million on the city of Memphis annually, before adding in figures from hotels, restaurants, and rental cars.

What's staggering, adds Burk, is that Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) says the income from the house and shops represent EPE's fourth biggest moneymaker -- behind music publishing, licensing, and tie-ins with major corporations such as Disney and Turner. "You're looking at a gross of $84 million a year coming through EPE's coffers."

That Presley is still so beloved is no surprise at EPE headquarters adjacent to Graceland. "Elvis is one of those kinds of comfort foods in tough economic times, with security concerns, stress, and war," says EPE merchandising director Danny Hiltenbrand. "Elvis hearkens people back to a simple, light-hearted time."

Mired in money troubles in '77

Yet, when Elvis left the building on August 16, 1977, he was mired in financial quagmires, and sometimes resorted to mortgaging Graceland to make his payroll. Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager, advanced the estate $1 million to make it look as if Elvis had some cash in his depleted checking account. In truth, the singer's years of gargantuan spending sprees (Cadillacs for strangers, houses for girlfriends, and an arsenal of guns for his cohorts) had left him strapped, as had his 1973 divorce from his wife, Priscilla.

But Presley's biggest financial liability was Parker himself, who systematically siphoned off far more than the usual 15 to 25 percent of his client's earnings. By the late '60s, Parker had forced Presley into a contracted 50/50 split. But through double dipping, the Colonel got his 50 percent and all but about 22 percent of Elvis' half, too.

Parker had always figured out a way to make more money than his client, whether through song publishing, souvenirs, or side deals with Presley's record company and movie studios. Then, when he formed Boxcar, a merchandising company, with Presley in the early '70s, he took 56 percent control, apart from his 50 percent commission. Some estimates have concluded that the Colonel wound up with nearly 78 percent of Elvis' name and likeness -- a highly valuable commodity, considering Presley's obviously failing health.

No wonder Mike Stoller, the co-writer of many Presley hits, says, "The Colonel's only interest was the Colonel's. Elvis was merely a vehicle for the Colonel's greed."

Reversing financial course

Just how Presley's blue moon turned to gold again is one of the most incredible of show business sagas.

Two days after Presley's death, when the entertainer's body lay in a copper coffin at Graceland, Parker approached Vernon Presley, the singer's father and executor of the estate, and presented him with a document to sign. With Elvis dead, pirates and scam artists were sure to swarm, he told Vernon, who suffered from a serious heart condition, and was in no physical or emotional shape to deal with such things. And so, Parker induced the elder Presley to sign the paper, in which Vernon allegedly wrote, "I am deeply grateful that you have offered to carry on in the same old way, assisting me in any way possible with the many problems facing us." In other words, Parker continued taking 50 percent of the estate's income, even though he had no artist to manage.

In 1979, when Vernon died, Priscilla Presley became the new executor of the estate, along with co-executors Joe Hanks, who had been Elvis' certified public accountant, and the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis.

Immediately after Vernon's death, June 26, 1979 - coincidentally Parker's 70rth birthday -- Parker approached Priscilla about carrying on his arrangement with the estate. And although she and the co-executors already had set about putting together an impressive board of directors to maximize income from one of the most famous names on the planet, only days after Vernon's death, the estate wrote Parker a letter directing him to continue as before. That year, the estate's income would amount to about $1.2 million, much of it from the 160 merchandising licenses the Colonel had arranged, making the estate worth about $3 million total.

"It was a shock to all of us" that Elvis had left so little money, Priscilla said years later. Still, all income was forwarded to Parker, who deducted his percentage, and returned the balance to the estate.

However, in 1980, a court appointed a guardian ad litem to look into Parker's business dealings on behalf of Elvis' young daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, and two years later ordered the estate to challenge Parker's hold. Graceland was loath to do so, not only for the certain financial drain, but also because Parker was such a crafty character, and would likely make a legal battle long and difficult.
"Let's put it this way, it was very intimidating," says Priscilla. "He had definite ideas of how to run the quote-unquote business, and he was very fixed in his ideas. He was definitely a force to contend with."

The estate and Parker eventually came to an out-of-court settlement, which eliminated the Colonel's future share of Elvis' income, and prevented him from commercially exploiting the Presley name for five years. In June 1982, Priscilla opened the doors of Graceland to the public, and helped build Elvis Presley Enterprises into a $15 million-a-year business.

"Like Scarlett O'Hara," Priscilla says, "I had to save Tara. The Colonel's philosophy was to keep Elvis separated from his fans. My philosophy was to reach the most people possible. It's probably a woman's touch."

While Priscilla is often derided by Elvis fan clubs -- they hold a variety of grudges against her, from divorcing their idol to trying to regulate the fan club -- she deserves a lot of credit for where the Elvis industry is today, says Nigel Patterson, president of the Australia-based Elvis Information Network, and head of the coalition of Australian Elvis Fan Clubs.

Mixed stream of Elvis income

"Had she not had the foresight to open Graceland as a tourist attraction, the level of interest in Elvis would be less today. The integrated mix of tourism, new releases, a robust fan club network, and savvy marketing ... ensures Elvis Presley is 'alive' at a level higher than any other deceased celebrity, and of most celebrities still with us," Patterson says.

Still, he insists EPE would not be as successful if not for the business acumen of Jack Soden, EPE's chief executive.

In the past two years, 35-year-old Lisa Marie, Presley's sole heir and chairman of the board of EPE, has become more involved in the decision-making process.

"As a member of a younger generation, she injects more contemporary views and ideas into how to promote Elvis and maintain Graceland as a premier tourist attraction, with a spin-off effect of wider interest in Elvis," says Patterson. "The fact that not a single day goes by when you don't see a reference to Elvis- -- his name, image, likeness, or icon -- in the media or society, is testament to Elvis' incredible impact. Elvis literally is everywhere."

Keeping Elvis before a wider audience -- especially a younger one -- is paramount on EPE's priority list, since for the past three years, the estate has calculated that at least 53 percent of Elvis' fan base is 35 or younger. That's why EPE cooperated with the 2002 Disney movie "Lilo & Stitch," a huge hit with youngsters, and put their stamp of approval on the dance remix of last year's "A Little Less Conversation." Both projects served to keep Presley contemporary, even as his jumpsuits of the '70s date him.

Skinny Elvis only, please
For that reason, and because the bloated Elvis of his latter years is an image EPE hopes everyone will someday forget, EPE has adopted a policy that "The King" may be depicted only in his pre-1973 form -- that is, trim and handsome, says Burk. "Elvis is a marketing product now, not so much a human being, and I don't say that harshly."

While Priscilla and the board of directors have gone a long way to license memorabilia in good taste -- doing away with such tacky items as vials of "Elvis Sweat" and grass allegedly plucked from the Graceland lawn -- the estate is beefing up the role of the gift shops in the overall EPE economy.

"The estate is forever looking for new products to be sold in its shops," says Burk. "In addition, far more products that are licensed to sell to the general public never see those shelves."

At least some of those will doubtless be shipped overseas in 2004, when Memphis joins with the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, England, in celebrating both the 50th anniversary of Elvis' first release and rock and roll in general. Dozens of projects are planned for the year, from a Thanksgiving television special, to books, to updated DVDs of Elvis' most celebrated TV performances, to a new compilation of Elvis' Sun Studio recordings. That's a big a hunka, hunka love for the man from Memphis. Even people who look like him will likely profit.

"Aside from the official Elvis industry, there is a thriving impersonator business and a bourgeoning underground Elvis market," reports Patterson. "Not bad for a man who has been dead for more than a quarter of a century."

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