Rich Paul

About

Richard Paul (born December 16, 1980) is an American entrepreneur, sports agent, and founder and chief executive officer of Klutch Sports Group. His most notable client is basketball player and longtime friend LeBron James. Paul is also co-head of the sports division at United Talent Agency.

Paul grew up in a one-bedroom apartment above his father’s store, R & J Confectionery, on East 125th and Arlington in Forest Hill, a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. His father, Rich Paul Sr., enrolled him in the private, fee-paying Benedictine High School, a Catholic school.
After graduating from high school, Paul was mentored by Distant Replays owner Andy Hyman on selling vintage jerseys. He would buy throwback jerseys from Atlanta and sell them out of his trunk in Cleveland. Paul was a student at the University of Akron when his father was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 1999. To be closer to him, Paul transferred to Cleveland State. A few months later, his father died, and Paul dropped out of school. Paul said: “He was always telling me my education was important … I always wanted to work. But I still probably would have finished school if my father was alive…