Priscilla Presley was making $900,000 a year from Elvis Presley Enterprises despite having no stake in the company, according to a lawsuit.
When Priscilla’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, sued her former business manager, Barry Siegel, in 2018 for “negligently” mishandling her money, she noted in the lawsuit that Siegel had “allowed (and, in fact, lobbied)” her mother’s nearly seven-figure income.
Lisa’s lawyers added Priscilla was being paid “even though Lisa’s mother has no ownership in EPE (nor was she performing any sort of executive-level work to justify the salary).”
“Siegel failed to disclose these facts to Lisa and he did not negotiate the same salary benefit for Lisa,” the complaint, obtained by Page Six, stated.
Siegel disputed Lisa’s claims in the lawsuit against him, and it dragged on for another two years before being settled out of court.
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However, the scathing document could yet work in Priscilla’s favor.
At its conclusion, it lists her as “co-trustee” of Lisa Marie’s fund while the “Lights Out” singer’s kids — Riley and Benjamin Keough — were listed as “adult children of the beneficiary,” who would benefit upon her death.
Priscilla has been back in the news this week after she filed in court to invalidate a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s trust which struck her and Siegel’s names as Co-Trustees, claiming it was fraudulent due to a suspicious signature and a misspelling of her name.
It is unclear why Priscilla would need to administer any of the value of Lisa Marie’s estate when daughter Riley is 33 and able to make financial decisions herself. Ben died from suicide in 2020.
A source close to Lisa Marie, who died at age 54 on Jan. 12, previously claimed to Page Six that Priscilla fighting the trust was nothing more than a “money grab,” while Priscilla maintained she is simply trying to protect her family.
A rep for Priscilla didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Lisa’s 14-year-old twin daughters Finley and Harper are also thought to now be beneficiaries of the estate, which still owns Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis.
“Today would have been Lisa’s 55th birthday. My wish is to protect my three grandchildren and keep our family together,” the ex-wife of the late King of Rock and Roll said in a statement to us Wednesday.
“From the first moment I held Lisa in my arms, I’ve protected, loved and guided her. … Our hearts are broken, and I am having to learn to live without my only daughter.”