Sean M. McWeeney is a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, with a bachelor's degree in commerce, where he was president of the senior class of 1961. He also received an MBA from the University of Rhode Island in 1964. McWeeney served as an officer in the US Navy from 1962 to 1965, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He went on to become an FBI agent from 1965 to 1988 and served as an Organized Crime supervisor in the New York office. His time in this office led to the arrest of Carlo Gambino, head of the infamous Gambino Mafia family. After retirement from the FBI, McWeeney founded an international security corporation, Corporate Risk International. Before the sale of the company, they went on to handle over six hundred kidnapping and extortion incidents over several years. McWeeney is married and has six children. His first wife Joan passed away in 2005. She played a substantial role in the success of both his careers.