Riley Keough’s Net Worth Quadrupled Because of Her Elvis Inheritance

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This past fall, Daisy Jones & the Six star Riley Keough officially became the face of her famous family as the sole trustee of the Presley estate. She jumped right into the role, hosting a holiday TV special at Graceland and, most recently, defending the Nashville, Tennessee, estate from an attempted sale. Keough’s new title also came with quite a chunk of change.

But the 34-year-old has also been steadily building her assets by working as an actor for close to 15 years. Her breakout was The Runaways back in 2010, but she’s had parts in Magic Mike, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Girlfriend Experience (which got her a Golden Globe nomination), and The Terminal List. Her performance as Daisy Jones on the 2023 Amazon Prime Video series earned Keough her first Emmy Award nomination, and this year, she’s appeared in the Hulu true-crime series Under the Bridge and the indie flick Sasquatch Sunset.

As a result, Riley Keough’s total net worth is a reported $20 million as of this month. In the past year alone, her wealth has quadrupled after officially inheriting the estate of her grandfather and music icon Elvis Presley. Below, we delve into that whole saga and how Keough has built her bankroll.

What Did Riley Keough make for Daisy Jones & the Six?

Keough’s paycheck hasn’t been confirmed by Amazon Prime Video, but there’s an unsubstantiated claim that she made $1.5 million for the series, which would break down to about $150,000 per episode.

Keough now owns Graceland. What does that mean?

Keough’s mother, Lisa Marie Presley, suddenly died in January 2023. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa Marie claimed she “had very little or nothing left of her inheritance from her father” but did own the Graceland estate as well as some of Elvis’ personal effects. Lisa Marie also owned a 15 percent stake in Elvis’ intellectual property rights, which THR notes “may generate future revenue for her heirs in the form of post-mortem book deals and movies.”

Now, that all belongs to Keough, who officially became the sole trustee of her late mother’s estate in August 2023.

Keough and her sisters, 15-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, were set to inherit Graceland from their mother—but things got complicated in January 2023, when their grandmother Priscilla Presley filed a petition to challenge her late daughter’s will. Specifically, she questioned a 2016 amendment that replaced her as a co-trustee with Riley and her late brother, Benjamin Keough. After a months-long standoff that reportedly left Riley upset, the two sides reached an agreement out of court in May 2023. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved their petition that August and signed off on the financial details of the arrangement in October.

Priscilla was reportedly paid $1 million in the settlement (plus $400,000 to cover legal fees) and is receiving a monthly stipend as a special adviser to the estate, but Riley and her sisters are the real winners. Their 15-percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises—Lisa Marie sold the rest in 2005—and Graceland ownership are believed to be worth tens of millions, according to The New York Times.

Bottom line is the resolution is benefitting Keough’s bottom line. As for her relationship with Priscilla, Riley told Vanity Fair in a 2023 interview, “Things with Grandma will be happy.” She added:

So, how much is the Presley estate worth?

A 2020 estimate from someone within Elvis Presley Enterprises valued the entire Presley estate between $400 million and $500 million. The Elvis brand continues to earn more than $100 million per year, and Lisa Marie reportedly drew $1.25 million of income from the trust in 2022.

Although Keough and her sisters only own a fraction of that, they own all of the Graceland mansion and more than 13 acres that it sits on. Elvis originally purchased the property in March 1957 for $102,500. Today, that price tag is equivalent to more than $1.1 million.

Graceland isn’t Keough’s only property

In 2018, Keough and her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, purchased a Tudor-style cottage in Los Angeles for $1.3 million. Located in the Atwater Village neighborhood, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house totals just under 1,200 square feet. But since Lisa Marie died, the couple and their daughter, Tupelo, have been living in nearby Calabasas to be closer to Keough’s teenage sisters.

The move seems to be a permanent one. Just earlier this month, Keough and Smith-Peterson placed their Atwater Village house on the market. They’re hoping to sell for just under $1.6 million.

Plus, she is still acting and has her own production company

Keough has continued to be an in-demand actor off the success of Daisy Jones and her other projects. Her most recent movie is Sasquatch Sunset, a surrealist comedy also starring Jesse Eisenberg. The movie hit theaters this April. That same month, Keough returned to the small screen as the lead actor in the Hulu limited series Under the Bridge, which is based on the real-life murder of a Canadian teenager.

In addition to acting in both projects, Keough served as an executive producer for them, meaning she could earn more than just the paychecks for her performances. Sasquatch Sunset and Under the Bridge are just two of the more than 45 projects Keough has helped finance through her production company, Felix Culpa. She started the company back in 2017 with producer Gina Gammell.

Future acting gigs will also boost Keough’s net worth. This March, news arrived that the actor is slated to appear in an upcoming Netflix movie directed by Noah Baumbach. The coming-of-age tale, focused on adults, will also star George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, and Billy Crudup.

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