When Elvis was seven, his father gave him a bicycle. Two days later he asked Elvis, “Where's your bike?”

“I gave it to my friend."

“Why did you do that?”

“It says in the bible that we should give to people,” Elvis replied.

His father couldn’t argue with that, but for sure thought of all the lunches he went without to save up for that bike.   

Elvis gave away over 50 cars in his lifetime, some to complete strangers. He also bought houses for close friends and lovers.

Road manager Joe Esposito said, “Elvis loved the reaction people had when he surprised them with a gift. But you could only thank him that one time. He didn’t want to hear about it later.” 

Elvis' bodyguard Jerry Schilling said: “Because Elvis never carried money, he had me draw $500 out of bank, so we could fly to Washington to meet President Nixon. On the flight, Elvis met a soldier returning from Vietnam. Elvis came up to me and said, ‘Jerry, give me the $500.’ I said, ‘It’s all the money we have.’ ‘I know,’ Elvis said’. But this soldier is on his way home to meet his family and could use it.’ So I gave Elvis the money and he gave it to the soldier.” ($4,400 today)

Contrast Elvis’ giving his money to people as opposed to his manager, Tom Parker, giving his money to casinos. Bodyguard Sonny West saw Parker lose $500,000 at the roulette table waiting for the casino manager to fetch him his free Thanksgiving turkey.

During his last five years, Elvis was averaging $130,000 per concert. ($960,000 today.) In1976, he performed 129 concerts.

In Pontiac, Michigan, Dec. 31, 1975, with a crowd of 60,000, Elvis grossed $800,000. ($4.5 million today).

His lifetime earnings are estimated to be between $100 to $600 million dollars. Yet, he died with only $5 million in his bank with a huge debt. Why so little? Here’s an example:

Elvis often traveled with his jeweler friend, Lowell Hayes, who carried jewelry with him in a briefcase so Elvis could buy and give them out at a moment’s notice.  

Hayes said, “During a 1975 show in North Carolina, Elvis asked me to hand him the briefcase on stage. He started handing out jewelry to fans in the front row. Later, in the limo, Elvis saw my distraught face as I looked at the empty briefcase. Elvis gave me a funny half-smile and said, ‘Don’t worry, Lowell. I’ll just have to sing five minutes longer tomorrow night to pay for it.’”

In 2020 alone, Elvis’ estate earned $23 million dollars. Graceland admissions makes around $10 million per year.

Elvis’ estate is now valued between $400 to $500 million, making him the wealthiest dead celebrity. If he was still alive, he’d be spending and giving that away as well.