When he passed away in 1997, Colonel Tom Parker, a Dutch American talent manager, was worth $1 million. Tom Parker, born June 1909 in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands; died in January 1997.
Colonel Tom Parker’s net worth: Colonel Tom Parker was a Dutch American talent manager who had a net worth of $1 million at the time of his death in 1997. Tom Parker, born June 1909 in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands; died in January 1997. He became famous for his role as Elvis Presley’s manager. Parker arrived in the United States at 18 years old and never held a US passport. He worked at carnivals before going into music promotion.
It was because to Parker that RCA Victor signed Elvis Presley to a recording contract after he heard about Tommy Sands. Parker planned television appearances and negotiated rich arrangements for merchandise. Parker did not spend much time with Presley in the years preceding up to his death. Colonel Tom Parker remained to administer Elvis’ estate after he passed even but he sold away the rights to his early recordings. Parker lived with a gambling habit and lost most of Presley’s income. Colonel Tom Parker died on January 21, 1997, at the age of 87.
Tom Parker, Colonel Tom Parker reportedly had less than $1 million in assets when he passed away, despite having made over $100 million in his lifetime. Also, at different points in his life, he owed as much as $30 million in gambling debts.
Colonel Tom Parker’s Net Worth At Death
After Colonel Tom Parker’s passing, his fortune was reportedly valued at $1 million. He oversaw Elvis Presley’s career, turning the singer into one of the first rock superstars. His primary source of income was his role as Elvis’ manager.
From 1955 through 1977, Colonel Tom Parker managed nearly every aspect of Elvis Presley’s life and career. He was a savvy showman who honed his skills selling acts at carnivals; he often referred to Elvis as “my attraction.”
He understood early on that Presley’s reputation would fade swiftly following his adolescent phenomenon days. Presley’s long-term success can be attributed to Parker’s cautious management of his enlistment in the Army, his film deals in Hollywood, and his subsequent comeback to Las Vegas.
Despite their long friendship, Parker remains a divisive element in the Elvis Presley narrative. A legal inquiry revealed that he frequently received a commission of fifty percent of his client’s earnings. Many Elvis fans think that Presley never toured worldwide because his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was an illegal immigrant from the Netherlands who never became a naturalized citizen of the United States and so did not have a passport.
“Whether regarded as a meretricious and evil confidence man, or as a brilliant marketer and strategist, as remarkable as the star he managed, no figure in all of the entertainment is more controversial, colorful, or larger than life than Tom Parker,” writes biographer Alanna Nash in her book, The Colonel.
To calculate the net worth of Colonel Tom Parker, remove all his liabilities from his total assets. His total assets would comprise all of his investments, savings, cash deposits, and whatever equity he may have in a vehicle, home, or another similar item. Total liabilities encompass all owed money, whether it be from loans or individual expenses.
Here’s the breakdown of his net worth:
Name: | Colonel Tom Parker |
Net Worth: | $1 Million |
Monthly Salary: | $10 Thousand+ |
Annual Income: | $100 Thousand+ |
Source of Wealth: | Elvis’ manager |
Colonel Tom Parker’s Mysterious Early Life
Colonel Tom Parker, whose birth name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, entered the world on June 26, 1909, in Breda, Netherlands. Parker told people he was from Huntington, West Virginia, but his Dutch relatives found out the truth after seeing a photo of him with Elvis in a newspaper.
As a great storyteller, he sought odd jobs, including one with a local circus, where he assisted with horse training. He informed his family as a youngster that he had secured a job as a sailor on the Holland America Line. Whether true or false, he left Breda and made his way to the United States via Canada, he once told a friend.
He met a Dutch family in Hoboken, New Jersey, but he quickly vanished, just as he would from his biological family. His family and friends have no idea why he decided to become Thomas Parker, although they do assume he met someone else with the same name at some point.
Parker obtained work with a booking agency in 1926, then went to the Netherlands for a brief time. He left again in 1929 and went to the United States, where he worked with carnivals, served in the United States Army, and subsequently became a country music promoter.
Was Colonel Tom Parker a Colonel?
Parker was appointed to the rank of colonel in the Louisiana State Militia in 1948 by Governor Jimmie Davis. Due to his work on Davis’s campaign, Parker was given the honorary title of “major” even though the state lacked a formal militia.
Nonetheless, Parker did spend two years in the U.S. Army in Hawaii’s Fort Shafter. After his initial deployment concluded in 1931, he enlisted again, only to desert the following year. Because of his AWOL offense, he was placed in solitary confinement, where he suffered a mental episode. In 1933, at the age of 24, he was medically released from the Army after being sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Did Colonel Tom Parker Murder Someone?
After telling his family he was safe in 1929, Parker abruptly departed the Netherlands and never heard from them again. Evidence suggesting that Parker (his assumed name) was involved in a murder that went unsolved in Breda was obtained by a Dutch journalist. The wife of a grocery store owner, who was only 23 at the time, was killed in 1929 during what was initially thought to be a robbery.
Nash claims that various factors “make it impossible not to assume that Colonel Tom Parker, in reality, may have gotten away with murder” due to the insufficient nature of the original police inquiry and the absence of any evidence directly connecting Parker to the killing.
Did the Colonel Defraud Elvis Financially?
Elvis Presley’s father, Vernon Presley, took over as executor of his estate after his death in 1977 but wanted Parker to remain in charge. A probate judge in 1979 was shocked to discover Parker’s agreement, which handed him half of Presley’s earnings even after the star’s death when Vernon died. Lisa Marie Presley, then 12 years old, had Memphis attorney Blanchard Tual appointed as her legal guardian and investigator by the court.
Tual’s article allegedly quotes insiders in the music industry as saying that Parker engages in “self-dealing and overreaching,” as stated by Nash. Tual found out that his 50% cut of Presley’s earnings was excessive, as most personal managers take 10%-15% of their star’s earnings as a commission.
According to Nash, a journalist asked Parker in 1968, “Is it true that you take fifty percent of whatever Elvis earns?” after hearing stories about the agreement. Parker rebutted, “That’s not accurate at all.” The money I make goes to him, but just half of it.
The reply sheds light on Parker’s line of thinking. He never worked with anyone else, therefore Presley’s success remained his sole source of income for the rest of his life. The Colonel put in “far more hours playing the Elvis trade than Elvis did,” as Nash puts it.
Parker’s riches were exposed in Tual’s article. In 1980, Tual estimated that Parker had swindled the Presley estate out of $7 million to $8 million over three years. Tual also pointed to incompetent management, saying that Parker had forgotten to register Presley with BMI. Therefore, Presley did not receive any royalties for writing any of the 33 songs to which he is credited.
The arrangement Parker signed with RCA in 1973 that allowed them to purchase the rights to all 700 of Presley’s songs was among the most incriminating pieces of evidence. As per the terms of the deal, Parker received $6.2 million spread out over a period of 7 years. He received $4.6 million for Presley.
In 1982, the estate filed a lawsuit against Parker, charging him with contract exploitation and personal benefit exploitation. That year, an out-of-court settlement was made, and the case was finally concluded in 1983.
Colonel Tom Parker’s House
In 1953, Parker bought a house in Madison, Tennessee, where Presley often stayed when making records there. The mansion became a legal office after Parker’s passing in 1997. Brian Oxley, a music historian, and collector, purchased the interior rights when the house was scheduled for demolition in 2017 to make way for a car wash. Wall panels and countertops, for example, were taken apart and stored in numbered boxes.
Colonel Tom Parker’s Death
In January of 1997, at the age of 87, Parker had a stroke and passed away the next day in a Las Vegas hospital.
How To Become Rich Like Colonel Tom Parker?
Wealth did not simply fall into Colonel Tom Parker’s lap. You have to use your brains to amass a fortune like that of Colonel Tom Parker.
One reason why some people are able to amass great wealth is that they make the most of their opportunities. They act appropriately because they are in the correct location at the correct time.
Since the advent of the Internet, society has undergone tremendous transformation. Making money online these days is a lot simpler.
It’s preferable to strike out on your own as soon as possible rather than settle for a 9-to-5 job and a life of familiarity.
Discovering how to construct a digital asset that brings in money even while you sleep is a surefire way to rapidly increase your net worth.
Your future self can be as prosperous as Colonel Tom Parker’s if you take this opportunity quickly enough.
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