Thomas Tull

Thomas Tull (born June 9, 1970) is an American billionaire businessman and film producer. He is the former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Legendary Entertainment.[2] His firm has produced and/or financed several major films, including The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, The Hangover and its sequels, 300, Man of Steel and others.

Thomas Tull
Tull at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015
Born (1970-06-09) June 9, 1970
Endwell, New York, U.S.
Alma materHamilton College
OccupationFilm producer, businessman
Years active2003–present
Net worthUS$1.2 billion (October 2019)[1]
Political partyDemocratic

Early life

Tull grew up in Endwell, New York, the son of a dental hygienist single mother.[3][4][5] As a youth, Tull was an athlete, playing baseball and football, earning a football scholarship.[4] Tull graduated from nearby Hamilton College in 1992.

Career

After college, Tull abandoned plans to become a lawyer and instead went into business, starting a chain of laundromats. Among his innovations were different prices according to demand at different times of day. Tull went into the field of financing, buying and selling several tax and accounting offices.[4] In the private equity business, Tull rose to president of Convex Group and later, chief of operations of Tax Services of America.[6] His firm invested in entertainment, where Tull began to learn the entertainment business. After discussing the potential of private equity with a film executive in 2003, Tull quit Convex, raising $600 million in equity to finance movies under the Legendary Pictures banner.[3] The company entered into a partnership in 2005 with Warner Bros. to jointly finance and produce films.[4] In 2009, Tull became the majority shareholder of Legendary, in a buyout of the original investors.[4] The Warner deal was followed by a similar deal with Universal Studios in 2013. He also helped produce the film Blackhat. Tull actively volunteered in the After School All Stars, a charity led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, which some credit for further fueling his interest in the entertainment business.

Tull describes himself as a "fanboy" of comics and several of the films produced by Legendary were personal favorites of Tull.[5] Watchmen had been in "development hell" for years when Tull arranged to pick up the rights.[5] 300 had been turned down by other studios.[4] Tull also describes himself as a "gamer", and founded the short-lived Brash Entertainment to work on film-to-video game conversions.[3]

Tull is a member of the board of trustees for the American Film Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors, and the San Diego Zoo.[6] In 2009, Tull became a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.[4] Tull had been a fan of the Steelers since age four, watching the Steelers take on the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX.[7]

Tull is a billionaire.[8] He has donated US$1 million to Priorities USA Action, a Super PAC supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.[9]

Personal life

He resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Alba and their children. [10] They previously lived in Thousand Oaks, California. In January 2018, the Thousand Oaks home was listed for $85 million, and is one of the largest private residences in the world.[11]

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Executive producer

Producer


As an actor
Year Film Role Notes
2012The Dark Knight RisesGotham Rogues Owner
Uncredited

Television
Year Title Credit Notes
2017−19Make It WorkExecutive producerDocumentary
2019Carnival RowCo-executive producer
As an actor
Year Title Role
2017Stranger ThingsMan on Street

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Thomas Tull". Forbes. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. "CEO Thomas Tull Resigns From Godzilla, Pacific Rim's Legendary Entertainment". Anime News Network. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  3. Lippold, Kye (April 21, 2008). "Thomas Tull '92 Discusses His Journey From Hamilton to Hollywood". Hamilton College. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  4. Garahan, Matthew (December 5, 2010). "Producer follows his own script". Financial Times.
  5. Brophy-Warren, Jamin (February 27, 2009). "A Producer of Superheroes". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. "Executive Profile: Thomas Tull". Business Week. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  7. Labriola, Bob (April 7, 2010). "Investor profile: Thomas Tull". Pittsburgh Steelers. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014.
  8. Robehmed, Natalie (February 10, 2016). "Box Office Billionaire: How Legendary's Thomas Tull Used Comics, China And A Secret Formula To Remake Hollywood". Forbes. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  9. Johnson, Ted (January 31, 2016). "Thomas Tull, Haim Saban Give Seven-Figure Sums to Pro-Clinton SuperPAC". Variety. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  10. SHERIDAN AND MARYLYNNE PITZ, PATRICIA. "Thomas Tull buys Glen Meakem's Edgeworth house for $15 million". Post-Gazette. Post-Gazette. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  11. Leitereg, Neal J. "Billionaire Thomas Tull lists a small village in Thousand Oaks for $85 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
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