Thomas Tull

Tull grew up in a low-income, single-parent household in Binghamton, New York, and attended Hamilton College on a football scholarship.⁠[1]

He graduated from Hamilton College in 1992; he recalled that he had planned to become a lawyer, but instead started several small businesses that he sold at a profit and, after handling a larger deal with a tax company, moved into private equity.⁠[2]

He previously ran the media and entertainment holding company Convex Group; in June 2005 he and Warner Bros. announced a pact under which Legendary Pictures planned to invest $500 million in 25 films over five years.⁠[3]

He recalled that a year-long fundraising effort brought in $600 million from blue-chip investors, with which the company co-produced the Batman and Superman films with Warner Bros.⁠[2]

By December 2009 he was listed among the minority owners of the NFLNFLThe NFL (National Football League) is a U.S. professional American football league of 32 clubs. Founded in 1920 as the APFA and renamed in 1922, it is organized into the AFC and NFC, with the season culminating in the Super Bowl.Open the full entry’s Pittsburgh Steelers.⁠[4]

In 2013 Legendary announced it would end its financing, production and distribution pact with Warner Bros. at the end of 2013 and begin a five-year production and co-financing partnership with Universal from 2014.⁠[5]

On January 12, 2016, Dalian Wanda Group announced it had acquired Legendary for no more than $3.5 billion in cash, with Tull remaining chairman and CEO.⁠[6]

Campaign finance filings disclosed in February 2016 showed that he gave $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.⁠[7]

That October he invested $2 million in the messaging startup Blend Systems; he had earlier invested in technology companies including Oculus, Magic Leap and Zoox.⁠[8]

In January 2017 he resigned as chairman and CEO of Legendary, keeping the title of founding chairman and a stake, as Wanda installed Jack Gao as interim CEO; he said Legendary was stable after a year of transition.⁠[9]

In 2019 his company Tulco and the insurance broker Acrisure formed Altway Insurance, an AI-backed brokerage.⁠[10]

Ghost Hounds, the blues-rock band he formed in Los Angeles in the mid-2000s and plays guitar in, opened for the Rolling Stones in Maryland in July 2019 and released the album Roses Are Black that November.⁠[11]

In September 2019, in a lecture at Robert Morris University, he described Tulco Holdings as backing companies that use technology to disrupt supply chains.⁠[1]

In July 2020 Acrisure acquired Tulco’s artificial intelligence insurance business, and he became chairman of the new Acrisure Technology Group.⁠[10]

He appeared on episode 259 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing Legendary Entertainment, James Cameron, Tulco, Colossal, Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Buffett is an American investor who took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 and served as its chairman and chief executive from 1970; he handed the chief executive role to Greg Abel on January 1, 2026 and became chairman emeritus, while remaining a director, on September 18, 2026.Open the full entry, the Rolling Stones, his own music and football, among other topics.⁠[12]

In March 2022 he and At One Ventures led a $60 million Series A for Colossal, a genetic engineering and de-extinction company.⁠[13]

That month he announced a strategic investment in the quantum and AI company SandboxAQ and joined its board of advisors.⁠[14]

From April 1, 2022, he served as a visiting innovation scholar at MIT’s School of Engineering, focusing on AI, quantum computing and semiconductors; he then lived in Pittsburgh, where he owned a farm using robotics, drones and analytics.⁠[15]

In January 2023 his newly established private investment vehicle, the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), invested $60 million in the satellite imaging company Capella Space, the fund’s first space investment.⁠[16]

In October 2023 USIT and Riot Ventures co-led a $200 million round for Shield AI, a military autonomous flight company, at a $2.7 billion valuation.⁠[17]

In September 2024 he was elected to the Board of Governors of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, listed as managing partner of TWG GlobalTWG GlobalTWG Global is a holding company led by Mark Walter and Thomas Tull that operates and invests in businesses across financial services, insurance, AI and technology, sports, media and entertainment, and energy; in November 2025, it led the AI cloud infrastructure company Lambda’s Series E funding round of over $1.5 billion.Open the full entry.⁠[18]

In March 2025 the investment and operating company TWG Global was described as led by Mark Walter and Tull.⁠[19]

MIT’s School of Engineering lists him as co-chairman of TWG Global and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.⁠[20]

In May 2025 he was elected a term member of the MIT Corporation, the institute’s board of trustees; MIT noted that he founded and chairs USIT and is part of the ownership groups of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are an MLB baseball team based in New York City, with Yankee Stadium in the Bronx as their home.Open the full entry.⁠[21]

In November 2025 the Tull Family Foundation donated food equal to 150,000 meals to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, whose chief executive thanked Thomas, Alba and the Tull family.⁠[22]

As of October 2026 he is founder, chairman and CEO of the Pittsburgh holding company Tulco, whose portfolio includes FIGS, Altway Insurance, BlueNote AI, Roadrunner Recycling and Edgeworth Security; at Legendary he produced or executive produced more than 40 films grossing over $13 billion worldwide.⁠[23]

He chairs USIT, a defense-focused fund, and founded the Tull Investment Group, which invests in early-stage technology companies; he is also a trustee of Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It grew out of the Carnegie Technical Schools, founded with funding from Andrew Carnegie in 1900, which were renamed the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and took the present name after merging with the Mellon Institute in 1967. The university is known for computer science, robotics, engineering, and the arts, and has campuses in Qatar, Silicon Valley, and Rwanda. As of September 2025, it enrolled 16,582 students. Its current president is Farnam Jahanian. On September 30, 2026, the university announced a $3 billion gift from Ken Griffin and plans to build a new campus in Miami.Open the full entry, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is a museum, education and research institution created by the U.S. Congress in 1846 with the bequest of the English scientist James Smithson. Based in Washington, D.C., it runs museums such as the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History, as well as the National Zoo.Open the full entry.⁠[24]

He also serves on the board of his alma mater, Hamilton College, and is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School.⁠[25]

Tulco: Official website: https://tulcoholdings.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[26]

Legendary Entertainment: Official website: https://www.legendary.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[12]

Pittsburgh Steelers: Official website: https://www.steelers.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[12]

Ghost Hounds: Official website: https://www.ghosthounds.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[12]