What Is Julie Chrisley's Net Worth?
Julie Chrisley is an American reality television personality and convicted criminal who has a net worth of -$18 million. As we detail in the paragraphs below, Julie and her husband, Todd, were arrested and convicted of conducting a massive tax and fraud scheme. As part of the conviction, they were ordered to pay $17 million in restitution to banks they swindled.
Julie Chrisley and her family became famous thanks to the reality series "Chrisley Knows Best," which aired on the USA Network from 2014 to 2023. The show followed the lives of Julie and Todd Chrisley and their five children. Unfortunately, Julie and Todd earned an additional level of infamy in 2022 after they were both convicted of tax and fraud charges. On November 21, 2022, Julie was sentenced to seven years in prison connected to the conviction. Todd was sentenced to 12 years.
Early Life
Julie Chrisley grew up in Winchester, South Carolina, as the daughter of a Baptist minister/mechanic and a bank teller. Chrisley also had a brother who reportedly committed suicide a the age of 25. Julie and her family lived a simple life in a trailer in South Carolina.
Personal Life and Career
Julie's life drastically changed when she began a relationship with Todd Chrisley, a successful real estate broker, in the early 1990s. At the time, Todd was married and had two children. Just after she and Todd were married, Julie gave birth to their first child together, a son named Chase.
Todd is considered by his family to be a control freak, a germaphobe, and often unreasonable and easily irritated. He was previously married to his high school girlfriend, Teresa Terry, before he married Julie in 1996. He has two children with Teresa and three children with Julie. Todd said he has embraced longtime, false rumors that he is gay: "I'm flattered that people think I can get laid on both ends. So, that doesn't bother me and my wife certainly is flattered that as many men want her husband as there are women."
Todd Chrisley was supposedly very successful in the real estate business and made millions throughout his career. However, in recent years, he ran up massive debts and was forced to file for bankruptcy. He allegedly owed the banks around $49 million at one time.
Julie is a breast cancer survivor, which has changed her perspective on life. She tries to appreciate life without "sweating the small stuff" and tries to instill that value in her husband and family as well. Julie enjoys cooking and also starred in "What's Cooking with Julie Chrisley" on the USA Network.
The series Chrisley Knows Best debuted on the USA Network in 2014. The show centered around the lives of Julie and Todd and their wealthy family and originally took place in Roswell and Alpharetta, Georgia, near Atlanta. The show then moved primarily to Nashville, Tennessee, during its fourth season. In 2017, it was renewed for a sixth season. A spin-off called "Growing up Chrisley" focusing on Chase and Savannah Chrisley, their children, began airing in April 2019, but it was canceled after Julie and Todd were sentenced to prison.
In 2016, "Chrisley Knows Best" was nominated for a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Unstructured Reality Show. Julie Chrisley has also appeared on episodes of the TV series "The View," "Today," "Steve Harvey," "The Real," "FabLife," "Hollywood Medium," and "Steve."
Family
Julie and Todd have a blended family with five children. Lindsie Chrisley Campbell is Todd's oldest daughter with ex-wife Teresa. Lindsie met Will Campbell in 2009, then she eloped with him in 2012 without getting her father's approval, which forced them into an estranged relationship. After a tumultuous few years, they reconciled in 2016. Lindsie made her final appearance on the show in season five. According to her attorney, "Lindsie has been a constant target of lies, harassment and threats from her family and as a result, has been distancing herself from the Chrisley family since 2017."
Kyle Chrisley is Todd's oldest son with Teresa. He is a recovering addict who suffers from bipolar disorder. He appeared in the first season of "Chrisley Knows Best" before getting involved with drugs again and has only been mentioned once since then, in the second season. He announced in 2019 that he is once again sober. His daughter, Chloe, often appears on the show as she is being raised by her grandparents.
Chase Chrisley is Todd and Julie's oldest son, who is often depicted engaging in get-rich-quick schemes. Savannah Chrisley, Todd and Julie's oldest daughter, is a former beauty pageant competitor who won the Miss Tennessee Teen USA title in 2016. Savannah founded SASSY, a cosmetics company that debuted on HSN.
Other individuals featured on "Chrisley Knows Best" include Todd's mother, "Nanny" Faye Chrisley. She enjoys gambling and drinking and is often annoyed by Todd's frequent interference with her plans in an effort to protect her and keep her out of trouble.
August 2019 Arrest
On August 14, 2019, Todd and Julie Chrisley were arrested in Atlanta on a multi-count indictment. The initial charges included tax evasion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy. According to the indictment, between approximately 2007 and 2012, Todd and Julie allegedly used Chrisley Asset Management to seek bank loans, which would be used to buy and sell foreclosed properties. Prosecutors alleged that the couple provided false information to secure these bank loans. That false information allegedly drastically inflated the couple's net worth.
According to the indictment, Todd and Julie:
"Conspired to submit false materials, such as fabricated bank statements and false personal financial statements, to financial institutions to obtain millions of dollars in loans, much of which they used for their own personal benefit."
As one example, the indictment claims that in November 2007, Todd and Julie showed a bank a fabricated financial statement. From the indictment:
"When the bank employee requested account statements, Co-conspirator A [an employee apparently working for the Chrisleys] sent Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley a fabricated bank statement showing that Todd and Julie Chrisley had $776,509.52 on deposit at Merrill Lynch.
In response, Todd Chrisley told his co-conspirator, 'you are a f****** genious [sic]!!! Just make it show 4 mil+"
In reality, the couple did not have a Merrill Lynch bank account at that time. When they did have one a year later, it never contained more than $17,000.
Furthermore, Todd and Julie also allegedly dodged federal tax bills. Their accountant was also indicted.
Todd and Julie claimed in a social media post that the illegal acts were performed by a former "trusted employee" who stole from the family and carried out the crimes without their knowledge. They were forced to appear in court and post $100,000 in unsecured appearance bonds. They were also ordered to restrict their travel to Atlanta and California only if they were taping their TV show.
In February 2022, a new indictment was filed. In addition to the previously mentioned charges of submitting fake documents when applying for loans, the indictment further accused the couple of using a film production company to hide $2 million worth of unpaid taxes owed to the IRS. That $2 million tax bill was allegedly related to earnings from their TV show, which the couple allegedly hid in a production company they controlled called 7C's Productions.
In this updated indictment, Todd and Julie were both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of tax fraud, and FIVE counts of bank fraud. They pleaded not guilty.
Their Federal criminal trial began in May 2022.
Real Estate
In 2016, the Chrisleys paid $1.6 million for a Nashville home. In June 2019, the couple bought a $3.4 million home outside of Nashville. Amid their ongoing alleged financial crimes, they were forced to put the house up for sale just two months later. Their initial asking price was $4.7 million.