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Robert F.X. Sillerman, who sold his radio empire and concert promotion companies for $4.4 billion in the 1990s, agreed on Thursday to buy 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises. "I believe Elvis to be the single most significant icon in American pop culture," he said, putting his considerable money where his mouth is.
EPE is the commercial entity that controls the lucrative Elvis empire – including the King's name, likeness and music-publishing catalog – which earned more than $30 million last year.
"For the past few years I've been looking for someone to join forces with to expand EPE, to take it to new levels internationally, and to make it an even greater force in the entertainment industry," said Lisa Marie, 36, in a statement.
The deal permits her to retain Graceland, said to be the most-visited private residence in the world, and the Memphis estate's annual 650,000-plus visitors shouldn't notice any change, says EPE chief Jack Soden. "It's like Monticello or Mount Vernon," he tells PEOPLE. "We're preserving history here. And just because there's new management doesn't mean there's going to be a change."
But there will be more, he promised – all outside the gates. "We're talking about vast new vistas, about entertainment projects around the world."
While Elvis, who died in 1977 (and whose 70th birthday will be marked this coming Jan. 8), ranks as No. 1 on the Forbes Magazine Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list, Sillerman says the King can do better.
As he said: "There are jurisdictions that have been under-Elvised."
