Todd Chrisley is an American real estate tycoon, however, it is his career as a reality TV star that announced him to America. His family’s reality TV show Chrisley Knows Best which premiered on the USA network in 2014 is a favorite of many Americans.
The show where Todd frequently flaunts his wealth shows him to have an iron-fist style of parenting. Like every other entertaining reality TV show, Chrisley Knows Best features family arguments some of which have led to family secrets being revealed.
Todd Chrisley Bio
Todd Chrisley was born on 6 April 1969, in Atlanta Georgia and raised in Westminster, South Carolina where his family lived a modest lifestyle. His parents are Gene Raymond Chrisley (1935 – 2012) and Faye Chrisley who features in the family’s Chrisley Knows Best.
Todd has two brothers; Randy and Derrick Chrisley. Randy was in 2014 diagnosed with stage four cancer.
Todd did attend high school but never went to college. Notwithstanding, he was able to enter into the business world and make a fortune from it.
He started Executive Asset Management LLC in 2004 and the venture remained in business until 2008. Todd’s most popular wealth maker is his now-defunct Chrisley Asset Management.
There are many speculations regarding when Todd began the real estate owned management company – (2002, 2004 or 2008). CAM which was headquartered in Atlanta with corporate branches in other states of the country made its money by managing and liquidating repossessed real estate properties for financial institutions.
Read Also: Jana Duggar Bio, Engaged, Married, Husband, Net Worth, Siblings, Family
While filming his show, Todd runs Chrisley & Company which has investments in retail, asset management, entertainment, and media.
Family: Wife, Kids, Grandchildren, Divorce
Todd Chrisley married his high school sweetheart Teresa Terry in 1988 when he was just 21 years old. Teresa was 19 years old at the time and pregnant with their first kid. That kid would be Lindsie Chrisley who was born on September 17, 1989, in South Carolina.
In 1991, Todd and Teresa welcomed a second child, son Kyle Chrisley. Unfortunately, around the mid-1990s, their union turned sour. Todd began seeing then-beauty queen Julie Hughes and married her in 1996 after divorcing Teresa.
“attachment_14435″ aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-14435″ style=”width: 634px” class=”wp-caption alignnone”>
After the Chrisley’s found fame with their reality TV show, Teresa came forward with claims of physical abuse during her 7-year marriage to Todd. She detailed her experience in an exclusive interview with Mail online.
Todd and Julie share three children together including; Chase Chrisley (b. 1997), Savannah Chrisley (b. 1998) and Grayson Chrisley (born 2006).
Todd’s grandchildren include; Chloe Chrisley (from his now-estranged son Kyle Chrisley) and Jackson Campbell (from first daughter Lyndsie).
Read Also: Dan Howell Bio, Height, Age, Brother, Girlfriend, Net Worth, Gay or Straight
Net Worth
While Todd is famous for being a millionaire, the specifics of his wealth are surprisingly hidden from the media, thus making it impossible to determine the exact value of his net worth.
His company CAM’s downfall has been linked to a couple of events – the 2008 collapse of the housing market and its loss of a contract with Fannie Mae in 2012 as a result of Todd’s legal dispute with a partner.
According to Todd’s attorneys, a bad investment saw the venture to default on a $30 million loan which forced them into filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013, writes Investopedia.
This was a year after Todd had filed for personal bankruptcy declaring $4.2 million in assets, $100 cash, $55 account balance, and debt of almost $50 million. The debt included $12 million on his mortgage and about $600,000 in back taxes.
Despite the bankruptcy filing, Todd continued to spend extravagantly, (he claimed that his family spent $300,000 annually on clothing) prompting the court to launch an investigation into whether he was stashing away cash. The investigation turned futile and in 2015, Todd emerged rather unhurt from the bankruptcy. However, he was estimated to still be in debt.
Though the idea behind Chrisley Knows Best was to flaunt his wealth, speculations are that Todd started the show in order to afford to pay for his huge debt.
Whatever the case, it seemed to have worked out. He has even dabbled in music. In January 2016, he signed a record deal with Broadcast Music Inc. releasing an LP in November 2016.
Gay
Todd Chrisley has been married twice, both times to women. However, for a long time, he has been plagued by rumors that he is gay. Among those laying up the gay claims include his son Kyle from whom he is estranged.
After the first season of the show came to an end, Kyle who’s had a history of abusing drugs openly told the media that he thinks his father is gay and is hiding his sexuality.
In an interview with In Touch Weekly, Kyle revealed that when he worked with his dad at his CAM company, he overheard him make offers to hold the penises of his staff when they went to take a piss. However, out of the four employees that have launched sexual assault suits against Todd, none was male.
Kyle also said he suspected that his dad was messing around with a male doctor.
Todd Chrisley denied his son’s claims telling In Touch Weekly; “I am not gay, nor have I ever been.”
His ex-wife Teresa Terry jumped to his defense saying that she doesn’t think he is gay. Regardless, the rumors have lingered on. Todd in February 2017 did an interview with The Domenick Nati Show where he said that he doesn’t care that people continue to ask him about his sexuality.
“I’m flattered that people think I can get laid on both ends. So, that doesn’t bother me,” Chrisley said.