Priscilla Presley's ex-business partners sue her for more than $50 million, alleging fraud
Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko filed the lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Among many other allegations, they say Presley used them to financially exploit her name, image and likeness, hiding the fact that she had sold those rights decades earlier.
The lawsuit comes just over a year after Presley, the 80-year-old former wife of Elvis Presley, sued Kruse and Fialko, alleging they engaged in elder abuse in a 'meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme' to 'prey on an older woman by gaining her trust, isolating her from the most important people in her life, and duping her into believing that they would take care of her (personally and financially), while their real goal was to drain her of every last penny she had.'
Kruse and Fialko's lawyer, Jordan Matthews, said in a statement Wednesday that the 'evidence will establish that the real victims here are my clients, who invested millions and years of hard work into revitalizing Priscilla Presley's brand, only to be betrayed and falsely accused once the money was on the table and every personal and business issue had been resolved.'
An email seeking comment from Presley's lawyer was not immediately answered.
Kruse and Fialko's lawsuit says Kruse is a well-known auctioneer and Fialko a successful entrepreneur, both of whom dealt in Elvis Presley memorabilia. The duo previously sued Priscilla Presley in Florida.
They say she approached them in 2021 looking for help to save her from financial ruin, which they spent thousands of hours working to do.
'Kruse and Fialko deployed IP, know-how and creative marketing to enhance Priscilla's brand,' the lawsuit said, and formed several companies to exploit her name, image and likeness.
But they say as this was happening, Presley hid from them that she had sold the rights to license her name as part of a $6.5 million deal with Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2005.
The lawsuit says that when confronted about the previous agreement, Presley repeatedly denied making it, and later said she had forgotten about it when confronted with evidence of it.
The lawsuit also alleges Presley sought to take advantage of the 2023 death of her daughter and Elvis Presley's heir, Lisa Marie Presley, to aggrandize herself and regain a stake in the Elvis' estate.
Priscilla and Elvis Presley were married from 1967 to 1973, divorcing four years before the death of the rock 'n' roll legend.
Kruse and Fialko say they brokered a 2023 deal to end a legal fight over the estate between Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley's daughter, actor Riley Keough, getting Priscilla Presley $2.4 million.
But the lawsuit says she cut them off in violation of contracts soon after, publicly smeared them and later sued them.
Priscilla Presley's lawsuit says that Kruse and Fialko fraudulently convinced her they were essential to her recovering financially, and that her former trusted advisers had been cheating her.
It said they compelled her to take part in sham companies, lost control of her name, image and likeness, and forced her into 'a form of indentured servitude.'
'By isolating her and immersing themselves in every aspect of her life, the Defendants were able to fraudulently induce Presley into giving them power of attorney, control over her family and personal trusts, and control over her bank accounts," the lawsuit said.
Priscilla became a major public figure when she was a teenager because of her relationship with one of the world's most famous men.
She never left the public eye, but she has regained a special prominence in recent years through Baz Luhrmann's 2022 film 'Elvis' and Sofia Coppola's 2023 film 'Priscilla,' based on her memoir.
She is also an actor who starred in the original 'Naked Gun' franchise in the 1980s and 1990s, and she had a cameo in the new reboot.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
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(Keep in mind dividends can always be cut.) Introducing two JPMorgan ETFs The first thing to understand about these two exchange-traded funds is that they are not tailored to invest in dividend stocks. Instead, they both follow the same strategy of investing up to 80% of net assets in equities (stocks), with the only difference being that the Equity Premium ETF focuses on S&P 500 stocks while the Nasdaq Equity Premium ETF focuses on stocks in the Nasdaq-100. As noted above, the stocks are not explicitly selected for their dividend yield, an essential point because high-yield equity-focused ETFs often involve concentrating holdings in sectors with high yields. The remaining net assets, up to 20%, are invested in equity-linked notes (ELNs) that follow a strategy of selling call options on the indexes that the two ETFs benchmark -- S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, respectively. A call option is the right to buy shares of the index at a specified price (the strike price) and is bought by bullish investors. The seller of the call options (in this case the ETF) receives a premium from the buyer. However, if the index increases significantly, the option is exercised, and the ELN typically incurs a loss. Conversely, when the index experiences a small gain, stays flat, or loses value, the option isn't exercised. The idea is that an anticipated net profit in premiums collected from the ELNs, combined with some dividend income from stock holdings, will generate sufficient income for distributions to be paid to shareholders under any condition, particularly in the event of a substantial increase in the index. And note that the upside is limited (gains less than the market), but the downside is also restricted. This table lays out how the portions of the ETFs will perform based on how the underlying index performs in a month. Monthly Index Performance Strong Gain Moderate Gain Moderate Loss Strong Loss Equities (At least 80% of the ETF assets) Strong Gain Gain Loss Strong Loss ELNs (Up to 20% of the ETF's assets) Loss Profit Profit Profit Overall Gain, but less than the market Gain, but less than the market Slight profit/slight loss Loss, but less than the market Author's analysis. What the ETFs need to do to demonstrate they work Before I throw charts at you, it's worth noting that the proof of the strategy working includes: The ETF should have a lower volatility than the index (measured here by the standard deviation of monthly returns). The ETFs should have relatively low maximum monthly drawdowns because passive investors usually do not want to lose a significant amount in any one month. The strategy should demonstrate a high coefficient of determination, or R^2, indicating that the independent variable (in this case, the benchmark index) is primarily responsible for determining the outcome. Performance consistent with the outcomes outlined in the table above. That said, here are the charts comparing the monthly index performance to the ETF's performance. Both sets of data include reinvestment of dividends. First, here's the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF. And now the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF. A few conclusions can be drawn from the data, along with some additional calculations. The monthly standard deviation of the S&P 500 over the period is 4.7%, compared to 3.1% for JEPI, indicating lower volatility returns. The monthly standard deviation of the Nasdaq-100 over the period is 5.7%, compared to 4.2% for JEPQ, indicating lower volatility returns. Both ETFs exhibit high R^2 values, indicating a consistency of outcome from the strategy. The three most significant monthly drawdowns for JEPI are -6.4%, -4.2%, and -4.1%. The three most significant monthly drawdowns for JEPQ are -8.7%, -6.8%, and -6.6%. In general, the strategy is effective, generating a collection of positive returns when the indices report moderate gains and losses. The downside is limited compared to the index when the market declines significantly, and the upside is limited when the indexes perform well. What it means to passive investors Both indices have performed very well over the periods, with an average monthly gain of 1.5% on the S&P 500 and 1.8% on the Nasdaq; therefore, the ETFs have understandably underperformed. However, there's no guarantee that these conditions will continue, and these ETFs have demonstrated lower volatility returns while maintaining substantial dividends for those seeking monthly income. As such, they are excellent options for those seeking to generate passive income across a range of market conditions. Should you invest $1,000 in JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF right now? 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Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. High Yield and Low Stress: 2 Dividend ETFs That Are Built for Passive Income was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
