ELVIS PRESLEY has earned Lisa Marie, his daughter, $100 million (£51 million) from beyond the grave, proving that everything about him is still a hot property.

Ms Presley announced yesterday that she had sold her father’s name, likeness and image to the founder of a new media and entertainment company in a move which she hopes will reinvigorate his estate.

“My greatest responsibility to my father is to preserve and protect his legacy,” said Ms Presley, who is her father’s sole heir.

She will keep Graceland — her father’s final resting place as well as his home for 25 years — and its 13.6-acre grounds and most of his personal effects. The deal would present an “incredible array of opportunities” as a result of a big cash injection, she said.

Heartbreak Hotel across the street from her father’s mansion, a collection of photographs, documents and footage held by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the Graceland visitors’ centre and the publishing rights to Elvis’s songs were included in the deal.

Graceland attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually and raised almost $40 million in admissions alone last year.

The King, who died in 1977 — whatever some of his fans may believe — had no business sense, however, and was famous for spontaneously giving away Cadillacs, cash and jewellery.

Robert Sillerman, who bought the treasure trove from Ms Presley by acquiring an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, said he wanted to expand the heritage of the “single most significant icon in American pop culture”.

But he did not say exactly how he planned to market Elvis, whose name is already attached to a dizzying array of official merchandise, from train sets and Christmas sculptures to Jailhouse Rock alarm clocks and Elvis-style Cajun seasoning.

Ms Presley said she that hoped Mr Sillerman would take the business to “new levels” internationally and “make it an even greater force in the entertainment industry”.

The staff at Elvis Presley Enterprises is not expected to change following the deal and Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla Presley, an actress, who created the business in 1980, will remain an executive consultant.

A clue to some of the possible new ventures Elvis’s many fans should expect can be seen in Elvis Presley Enterprises’ current rights.

These include the worldwide licensing of Elvis-related music, film, video, television and stage productions, and the business’s presence on the internet.

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