What is Sean Tuohy's Net Worth?
Sean Tuohy is an American sports commentator and restaurateur who has a net worth of $100 million. That is a combined net worth with his wife Leigh Anne Tuohy. Sean and Leigh Anne earned their fortune thanks to a highly successful career as franchisees of more than quick service restaurants 100 restaurants. At one point, Sean and his wife Leigh Anne owned around 115 franchises of Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Long John Silver's. The Tuohys eventually sold the majority of the franchises in six different transactions for a reported total of $213 million.
Outside of their fast food empire, the Tuohy family is best known for being the subject of Michael Lewis' 2006 book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" and the 2009 film adaptation "The Blind Side," which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. In the movie Sean was portrayed by Tim McGraw and Leigh Anne was portrayed by Sandra Bullock. Sandra won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role. The movie tells the story of how the Tuohys took in and helped a teenage Michael Oher who would later go on to enjoy a successful NFL career.
Over the years, Tuohy has also worked as a sports analyst for radio broadcasts for Ole Miss and the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team.
2023 Complaint From Michael Oher
On August 14, 2023, it was revealed that Michael had filed a bombshell petition to a Tennessee court that claimed the central story line of "The Blind Side" was a lie "concocted" by the family to enrich themselves at his expense. The petition requested to end Sean and Leigh Anne's conservatorship, to pay him a fair share of profits from the film, compensatory and punitive damages and that the couple be barred from using his name in future projects.
Among other shocking allegations, Michael's petition claimed that he was never actually adopted by the Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and was instead put under a conservatorship. This is important because under a conservatorship he did not have a familial relationship with the Tuohys and that the family was able to strike deals in his name, allegedly without providing him a share of royalties that were generated by the movie and other media that features his name and likeness. The petition claimed that the family struck a deal that paid both Tuohy parents and two children, Sean Jr. and Collins, $225,000 plus 2.5% of "defined net proceeds" earned off "The Blind Side" at the box office, DVD sales and streaming revenue.
"The Blind Side" generated $300 million at the box office on a budget of $30 million. Based on average film profit breaktouts, one could presume that there were at least $150 million in net proceeds. If that was correct, the four Tuohys each presumably received $225,000 PLUS $3.75 million in royalties over time just on the box office, not including DVD and streaming revenue.
Michael's petition claimed that he did not earn anything from the money while the family made millions of dollars. Furthermore Michael claimed the family had him sign a contract in 2007 that gave 20th Century Fox the life rights to his story "without any payment whatsoever."
This contradicts what Leigh Anne said in her 2010 book "In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving." In that book Leigh Anne claimed they split the money from the movie "five ways." However, Michael's petition claims he never received any money from the movie at all.
Sean Tuoy's Response to the Complaint
A day after Michael filed his complaint, Sean gave an interview with the Daily Memphian in which he said Michael's claims "devastated" the family. He also refuted the allegation that The Tuohys made "millions" off "The Blind Side." Specifically he explained:
"We didn't make any money off the movie. Well, Michael Lewis, gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each."
Sean further stated that after selling their restaurant franchises for over $200 million, he was offended by the idea the family would want or even need to profit off Michael.
As for why Sean and Leigh Anne opted to be his conservators instead of adopting him, Sean explained:
"We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn't adopt over the age of 18. The only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."
The Blind Side Royalties
In the wake of his allegations, Alcon, the movie studio that produced "The Blind Side," released a statement that revealed exactly how much it had paid to Oher and the Tuoys. From the statement:
"Alcon has paid approximately $767,000 to the talent agency that represents the Tuohy family and Michael Oher."… The agency, presumably, took a 10% commission before passing the royalties on… "We anticipate that the Tuohy family and Michael Oher will receive additional profits as audiences continue to enjoy this true story in the years to come."
Doing a quick bit of math, after the talent agency took a 10% cut we are left with $690,000 split by the four members of the Tuohy family and Michael Oher. That's $138,000 per person, pre-tax.
Early Life
Sean Tuohy was born Sean Albro Tuohy on November 23, 1959, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Mida and Edward Tuohy. His father (who was known as "Skeets") coached basketball at the Isidore Newman School. Today the "Tuohy Gymnasium" is named in his honor. One of Sean's classmates at Isidore Newman was future "The Blind Side" author, Michael Lewis.
After high school Sean was actually drafted by the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, but he decided to attend college on a basketball scholarship at the University of Mississippi. Tuohy joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and played on the Ole Miss Rebels, leading the team to the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament in 1981. He was named All-SEC all four seasons that he played on the team and set a record for single season assists (260) in the Southeastern Conference.
Sean and his future wife Leigh Anne met while they were both attending the University of Mississippi. She was a cheerleader and a member of the Kappa Delta sorority.
Sean was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 1982, but he chose to play basketball overseas instead and later returned to the country to be by his father's side during the end of his life. Edward passed away from cancer in September 1982.
Sean was inducted into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Fast Food Empire
Tuohy and his wife, Leigh Anne, own 85+ fast food franchises, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Sean became a broadcaster for the NBA team the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, a role that reportedly earns him around $79,000 per year. He also served as an analyst for Ole Miss radio broadcasts for seven years, helped create the Grace Evangelical Church in Memphis, and has had a successful career as a motivational speaker. In 2010, Sean and Leigh Anne co-wrote the book "In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving," a "New York Times" bestseller in which "the Tuohys take us on an extraordinary journey of faith and love―and teach us unforgettable lessons about the power of giving."
Personal Life
Sean married Leigh Anne Roberts in 1982. They welcomed daughter Collins Tuohy in December 1986 and son Sean Jr. in July 1993.
In 2016 their daughter Collins married Cannon Smith, the son of billionaire FedEx founder Fred Smith.
Real Estate
In 2018, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy paid $800,000 for a 5,100 square foot home in East Memphis, Tennessee. When the couple bought the four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home, they already owned four other houses in the area.
