Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley's daughter and sole heir, is selling eighty-five percent of her father's estate, including rights to his name and image, to the founder of music and sports promoter SFX Entertainment, Robert F.X. Sillerman. (SFX was bought by Clear Channel in 2000.)

Sillerman claims that the estate, which brought in $45 million in 2004, can earn much more if marketed aggressively. The estate, formerly Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc., will now become part of a publicly traded company called CKX Inc.

Lisa Marie will receive shares in the new company, and will keep the Graceland estate, its surrounding thirteen acres and her father's personal possessions. Tours of Graceland, which draws 650,000 visitors each year, will continue.

"For the past few years," Lisa Marie said in a statement, "I have been looking for someone to join forces with to expand the many facets of [Elvis Presley Enterprises], to take it to new levels internationally and to make it an even greater force in the entertainment industry."

Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie's mother and Elvis' widow, created Elvis Presley Enterprises in 1980, and she will be a consultant to Sillerman and CKX.

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