Rags To Riches: Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan Totally Changed His & Wife Nicole's Lives

The TV show "Yellowstone," about the lives of the Dutton family as they work to protect their Montana ranch, was a massive hit. Even with all the controversy and drama behind Kevin Costner's character being written off "Yellowstone" during the final season, the show maintained its popularity. It's also spawned a number of spinoffs. Thanks to the success of the franchise, "Yellowstone" show creator and writer Taylor Sheridan has a lavish life. But before the show made it big, things weren't always so easy for him and his wife Nicole Muirbrook. Muirbrook and Sheridan, who have a sizable 13-year age gap, had their first baby in 2010 and got married in 2013 — five years before the debut of "Yellowstone."

When they first got together, the two of them were both still working to try and establish themselves in their acting careers, and it wasn't easy money-wise. Muirbrook was working as a model and an actor when she met Sheridan; he was actually her acting coach and working as Deputy Chief David Hale on "Sons of Anarchy" at the time.

In 2021, she talked to Cowgirl Magazine about the early years of their relationship: "At the time it was like 'let's just make enough to pay a mortgage or rent or food.' We were literally starving." It was Sheridan's words that helped turn things around. "That's when Taylor started writing," Muirbrook explained, "and two years later, we were at the Oscars ... I still can't believe it." Sheridan was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay "Hell or High Water" in 2017, and the same year, he won best director at the Cannes Film Festival for the movie "Wind River," which he also wrote.

As for Taylor Sheridan, when times were tough in Los Angeles before "Yellowstone," he'd slept in his truck. "I was really broke but made the choice not to quit and go home," he explained to the Austin American-Statesman in 2017. "I also stayed with friends on a reservation north of L.A. They would let me go up there, and I would pitch a tent." Sheridan pivoted from acting to writing when Nicole Muirbrook got pregnant. He added, "I didn't want to raise my son in L.A., and I didn't want to have to look him in the eye and tell him I couldn't take him to a baseball game because I had an audition for a Windex commercial."

In 2012, after selling his first screenplays, one of the first things Sheridan bought was his first ranch in Wyoming; he bought his second one in 2024 for almost $5 million. Sheridan has other impressive real estate holdings, most notably the massive Four Sixes Ranch in Texas. It dates back to 1870, and Sheridan bought it in 2022 for over $320 million. "Yellowstone" fans will remember it as the ranch in Season 4 where hapless ranch hand Jimmy went to learn how to become a proper cowboy.

The nearly 270,000 acre ranch played a major role in Sheridan's life when he was growing up in Texas. "I grew up in the shadow of the Four Sixes," Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. "To just get one of their horses was a status symbol, because they're so well trained." He also explained how Four Sixes inspired the titular ranch in "Yellowstone." Quite the full circle moment for Sheridan.

Taylor Sheridan also owns the 600-acre Bosque Ranch in Weatherford, Texas, which he bought for over $260 million in 2013 and was also used as a filming location for "Yellowstone" and some of its prequels. These aren't just show properties; they're working ranches. Both Sheridan and Nicole Muirbrook are avid equestrians, and they have a renowned horse breeding program as well as beef cattle — Four Sixes brand beef can be purchased online and visitors can take a tour of the ranch.

Along with his ranches, Sheridan is continuing with his TV career. In 2025, he reportedly made a five-year deal with NBCUniversal to make 20 shows, along with some movies for the company before then. The deal is reportedly worth up to a whopping $1 billion for Sheridan, per sources for Deadline.

Sheridan didn't start out with instant success, which is something he actually has in common with his now-hit TV show. While the "Yellowstone" franchise is now a multi-billion dollar industry, it took awhile to get traction. It was originally sold to HBO, but it ended up airing on Paramount. The way that Sheridan worked didn't line up with the way that the network executives at Paramount expected, and there were times that he thought about ditching the show entirely. The show lost $50 million in its first season; however, by Season 4, it was the most popular scripted show airing at the time, according to Bloomberg. Needless to say, Sheridan's success post-"Yellowstone" is a far cry from sleeping in his truck.