Who Owns Graceland? The Full Ownership Structure, Explained

Riley Keough owns Graceland. Elvis Presley's eldest granddaughter became the sole owner and trustee of the Memphis estate after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died in January 2023. 

A Los Angeles court confirmed this in June 2023.That's the direct answer. But if you've tried to look this up before, you've probably run into conflicting information. 

Different sources give different numbers, different names, and none of them clearly explain why.That's because "who owns Graceland" is actually three separate questions depending on what part of the operation you mean.

The Three Ownership Questions Most People Conflate

Here's what trips people up: Graceland the mansion, Graceland the business, and Elvis's commercial brand are three legally distinct things with three different ownership structures. They overlap in practice, but they are not the same.

Get this wrong, and the numbers stop making sense. That's why one article tells you Riley owns 85% and another says the Presley heirs only hold 15%. Both are technically referencing real figures they're just talking about different things.

Who Owns the Graceland Mansion Itself

The physical property the mansion, the original 13-plus acres, Elvis's personal effects, the costumes, the cars, the furniture is owned 100% by the Presley heirs.Riley Keough holds this through The Promenade Trust, originally created by Lisa Marie Presley. 

After Lisa Marie's death, a Los Angeles judge confirmed Riley as the sole trustee of that trust. Her two younger half-sisters, Harper and Finley Lockwood (Lisa Marie's twin daughters with Michael Lockwood), are the beneficiaries of sub-trusts.

She has legal authority over the property, how it's used, what gets preserved, and what gets approved. The twins hold a beneficial interest, but Riley holds the wheel. Interestingly, this is a point that often gets muddled in media coverage. Riley's ownership of the mansion is total and separate from any corporate stake.

Who Owns Elvis Presley Enterprises - the Operating Business

This is where the 15% figure comes from, and it changes the picture considerably. Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) is the corporate entity created to manage the commercial operation of Graceland, the tours, the hotel, the archives, the events, and licensing.

It was wholly owned by Lisa Marie Presley until February 2005, when she sold a major interest in the company. Today, the majority owner of EPE is Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker. The Presley heirs through Riley's trusteeship hold a 15% stake in EPE.

So to be precise:Majority EPE ownership: Graceland Holdings LLC (Joel Weinshanker) 15% EPE stake: Presley heirs, with Riley Keough as sole trustee Physical mansion + grounds: 100% Presley heirs (Riley as trustee)

Jack Soden serves as CEO of EPE and manages day-to-day operations from the Memphis office. In practice, most heritage tourism operations of this scale separate property ownership from operational management. Graceland's structure reflects that common pattern, even if it's rarely explained clearly to the public.

Lisa Marie's 2005 decision to sell the majority of EPE was widely reported as financially motivated; she needed liquidity but she drew a firm line at the mansion itself, which never changed hands.

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Who Owns Elvis's Name, Image, and Likeness

Separate again. Authentic Brands Group (ABG) acquired the rights to Elvis Presley's commercial intellectual property, his name, image, and likeness in 2013. ABG does not own Graceland. It does not own EPE in any controlling sense.

What it owns is the global licensing rights to Elvis as a brand: merchandise, endorsed products, media partnerships, and so on. This is worth stating plainly because it causes real confusion. When you see Elvis-branded products or licensed experiences around the world, that flows through ABG.

A Brief History of Who Has Owned Graceland

Understanding the current structure is easier with a quick ownership timeline.

1957: According to Wikipedia's entry on Graceland, Elvis Presley purchased the property for $102,500 on March 19, 1957, at age 22, and moved in with his parents. The mansion sits on approximately 13.8 acres in the Whitehaven neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

1977: Elvis dies at Graceland on August 16. His will appoints his father Vernon as executor and trustee. Lisa Marie Presley, then nine years old, is named the eventual sole heir. The will stipulates her inheritance be held in trust until her 25th birthday.

1977–1993: Vernon Presley dies in 1979. Elvis's grandmother Minnie Mae dies in 1980. Co-trustees including Priscilla Presley and the National Bank of Commerce manage the estate. Priscilla makes the decision to open Graceland to the public in 1982, which is widely credited with stabilising the estate's finances.

The annual upkeep at the time was running over $500,000, and the estate had a real cash flow problem. Opening the doors was less glamorous than it sounds; it was a financial necessity. That decision changed what Graceland is today.

1993–2023: Lisa Marie inherits the Elvis Presley estate outright on February 1, 1993. She forms a new trust, with Priscilla continuing as co-trustee before stepping back to an advisory role in 1998. 

In 2005, Lisa Marie sells the majority interest in EPE but retained the mansion and personal effects. She remains owner of the physical property until her death on January 12, 2023.

2023–Present: Riley Keough assumes the role of sole trustee. Confirmed by Los Angeles Superior Court in June 2023 following a settlement with Priscilla Presley and Michael Lockwood.

The 2024 Foreclosure Attempt - What Actually Happened

In May 2024, a company calling itself Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC announced it was moving to foreclose on Graceland, claiming Lisa Marie Presley had put the property up as loan collateral. As reported by Fortune, the company could not be found in state business registration databases in Missouri or Florida, and no representatives appeared in court to defend the claim.

Riley Keough's legal team immediately challenged the claim, calling the underlying documents fraudulent. A Tennessee court halted the proposed auction. The company subsequently dropped its case. The Tennessee Attorney General's office looked into the matter and referred it to federal law enforcement.

Riley Keough Graceland ownership was never in genuine legal jeopardy; no court found the foreclosure claim valid. But the episode attracted significant media attention because, on the surface, an auction of Graceland sounds extraordinary. What's often overlooked is that the claim was dismissed before any sale came close to happening.

What Graceland Actually Operates as Today

Since opening to the public in 1982, Graceland has grown from a single mansion tour into a substantial tourism operation. The current footprint includes: The mansion tours themselves, running daily.

The Elvis Presley's Memphis entertainment complex, a 200,000-square-foot facility opened in 2017 at a reported cost of $45 million, housing exhibit spaces, restaurants, the Presley Motors automobile museum, and a soundstage.

The Guest House at Graceland, a 450-room hotel opened in 2016, replacing the earlier Heartbreak Hotel property. Archives, retail, and licensed events worldwide. Graceland employs roughly 350 to 450 people depending on the season and draws more than 500,000 visitors per year.

As reported by Rolling Stone, a Presley executive stated in 2020 that the overall estate is worth between $400 million and $500 million, a valuation range that places it in the same conversation as other major consumer brands built around a single founder's identity. 

Annual revenue from the operation is reported to exceed $10 million. These figures are also referenced via www aeonscope net among other sources that track estate valuations.

The business structure separating property ownership from operational management is a model seen across major entertainment enterprises, where founders or heirs retain physical assets while outside investors run the commercial arm.

Graceland's reported revenue and visitor numbers place it among the most valuable privately held entertainment properties in the United States, comparable to other heritage brands that have successfully monetised founder legacies.

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Conclusion

Graceland has three ownership layers the mansion (Presley heirs, Riley as trustee), the operating business EPE (majority held by Graceland Holdings LLC), and Elvis's commercial IP (Authentic Brands Group). Riley Keough owns and controls the property. The business that runs it is largely outside family hands.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Priscilla Presley own any part of Graceland? 

No. Priscilla served as co-trustee through 1998 and later as an advisor. Following the 2023 settlement, she holds no ownership stake. Riley Keough has confirmed Priscilla is welcome to be buried in Graceland's Meditation Garden alongside Elvis and other family members interred there.

Does ABG own Graceland? 

No. Authentic Brands Group owns Elvis's commercial image and likeness rights, acquired in 2013. It has no ownership of the physical mansion, the grounds, or EPE's majority stake. The distinction matters practically — ABG controls what Elvis's name and face can be used for commercially, but it cannot dictate what happens to the building or the land.

Who runs Graceland day-to-day? 

Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), majority-owned by Graceland Holdings LLC. Jack Soden serves as CEO. Riley Keough, as sole trustee, holds oversight authority over the property itself.

Does anyone live at Graceland? 

No. No Presley family member currently lives there. The second floor has remained closed to the public since 1982. Riley Keough has described staying there occasionally as a child, hiding upstairs while tours ran on the ground floor below.