What is Thomas Tull's Net Worth?
Thomas Tull is an American billionaire, entrepreneur, and film producer who has a net worth of $3 billion. Thomas Tull is the former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Legendary Entertainment. The film production company was one of the first to raise the majority of its capital via Wall Street-based private equity agreements and hedge fund backing. The company has gone on to produce some of the most successful films in recent memory, including "Batman Begins," and its sequels, "The Dark Knight," and "The Dark Knight Rises," "Superman Returns," "300", "Watchmen," "The Hangover," "Clash of the Titans" and its sequel, "Wrath of the Titans," "Inception," and "The Town", among many other projects. Legendary has also expanded into comic book production and television. In January 2016, Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin purchased Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion.
He is also the founder of Tulco LLC, an investment holding company. Mr. Tull is notable for, at one point, being one of the executives in the running to purchase the San Diego Padres. He is a part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Early Life
Tull was born on June 9, 1970, in Endwell, New York. He was raised by his single mother, who worked as a dental hygienist. Tull was an athletic child, playing baseball and football while he was growing up. After finishing high school, Tull enrolled at Hamilton College. He graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1992.
Career
Tull had planned to enroll in law school following his graduation from college. However, he instead decided to go into business by starting a chain of laundromats. He was innovative in his way of opening the business, as he implemented a new pricing schedule depending on the time that the machines were used. The strategy was ultimately successful and gave Tull the confidence he needed to continue pursuing new business ideas.
He then began financing, buying, and selling tax and accounting offices in the area. This led to a position as chief of operations of Tax Services of America. This involved working with franchisees who operated Jackson Hewitt Tax Services and purchasing their businesses before ultimately consolidating them with each other. He then would make the former owners a salaried manager, a position which many of these individuals preferred.
After doing that for a while, he then joined the Interactive Technology Funds group and then the Convex Group, an Atlanta-based investment group. In this role, he helped make investment decisions in the entertainment business. Gaining some insider knowledge into the film and entertainment business while in this role, Tull then quit in 2003 to begin financing the production of films. He started the Legendary Pictures company to do so.
Legendary Pictures soon morphed into Legendary Entertainment, which was officially founded by Tull in 2005. He became the CEO and chairman of the company. Legendary partnered with Warner Bros. to finance and produce films jointly. Tull was very successful in this role, and Legendary was responsible for the production of many popular films during this time. Some of these films include "Watchmen," "300," "Dark Knight," "Inception," "The Hangover," and "Man of Steel." In 2009, Tull became the majority shareholder of Legendary following a buyout of original investors. He then struck a deal with Universal Studios in 2013.
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One of the reasons why Legendary Entertainment was successful was the time and resources it devoted to data analytics. They were one of the first film production companies to use tech and data analytics to improve movie marketing. Tull built an entire analytics division within the company, which focused on acquiring data to improve marketing decisions. Tull remained with Legendary until 2016, when he helped negotiate an acquisition deal by which Wanda Cultural Industry Group purchased an 80% stake in the company, with Tull retaining 20%. He then officially left the company in 2017.
After leaving Legendary, Tull founded Tulco, LLC. The company is a Pittsburgh-based privately held holding company through which Tull invests in companies who are working in a variety of large industries. Tulco specifically helps the companies in which it invests take advantage of various advanced technologies, like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive data analytics. His idea for Tulco was inspired in part by the successful data analytics branch he had set up at Legendary Entertainment. Some of Tulco's investments include FIGS, a popular healthcare apparel company, and Acrisure, an insurance broker. Acrisure actually then purchased Tulco's artificial intelligence business in July of 2020 for $400 million.
Additionally, outside of Tulco, Tull himself has invested in a number of technology-related companies. He has made investments in Luvos, Genies, Oculus, and Zoox, among others.
Personal Life
Tull is married to Alba Tull, and they have two sons. Tull enjoys watching professional football and is, in particular, a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2009, he became a partial owner of the team. He also enjoys playing guitar and plays in the American rock and soul band Ghost Hounds.
Tull is involved in a number of philanthropic causes. He founded the Tull Family Foundation, which supports a number of youth, health, and education programs. He has also donated large sums of money to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation to support pediatric research and art therapy programs. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated over $4 million to go towards the purchase of personal protective equipment.
Tull is also a member of the MIT School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council, is on the board of trustees at Carnegie Mellon University, and is on the Board of Directors at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Real Estate
For a number of years, Thomas Tull and his family lived in a lavish mansion in Thousand Oaks, California. In January 2018, the Tulls listed the home for sale for $85 million. The 33-acre property features a sprawling mansion inspired by 18th century French chateaus. In July 2019, he accepted a much lower, but still record for the area, $35 million. In March 2019, Thomas and his family moved to Pittsburgh.
Here is a video tour of their former incredible Thousand Oaks mansion:
