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Growing up in a crime-ridden neighborhood of Cleveland, Rich Paul, the future sports agency superstar, didn’t get to experience childhood like a normal kid would: instead, every day was a struggle to keep going. His mother was battling drug addiction and often didn’t come home, and the gun violence that he was exposed to early in his life didn’t help to lighten the mood either. Yet, akin to Cinderella in a modern setting, Rich Paul was able to beat the odds, crafting a stellar career as a manager for the big-name sports stars.
It certainly took Rich Paul a combination of luck, persistence, and boldness to find himself at the place he is now—and we’re here to tell his story. Read on to learn about Rich Paul’s net worth, career, and personal life.
Early life
Rich Paul was born on December 16, 1981, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Together with his family, he used to live in a one-bedroom apartment above his father’s store, R & J Confectionary, on East 125th and Arlington in Forest Hills, on the east side of Cleveland. His mother struggled with an addiction, and the neighborhood he lived in was rife with prostitution, drugs, and violence. As Paul recalls in an interview with GQ, he grew up “in an environment where there was a war going on the next street, or on my street, every day.”
Despite all the violence and crime, life goes on. Paul’s father, Rich Paul Sr., enrolled him in a private, fee-paying Catholic school to provide his son with more opportunities that were scarce in their neighborhood. Paul Sr., whom Rich Paul credits for shaping his work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit, always emphasized the value of education. That being said, it comes as no surprise that young Rich decided to continue his education and enrolled in the University of Akron after graduating high school. Shortly after, his father was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, so Paul transferred to Cleveland State to be closer to his family. He dropped out a few months after his father died in 1999.
As a 19-year-old college dropout, Rich Paul had to hustle to keep himself and his family afloat. He started selling vintage jerseys from the trunk of his car. Once when he was waiting for his flight to Atlanta at the Akron-Canton Airport, the authentic Warren Moon throwback jersey that he had on grabbed the attention of an Acron native and a budding basketball talent. His name was LeBron James, and the encounter, unbeknownst to the two, would forever alter the course of their lives.
Starting out as a sports agent
After exchanging contacts with LeBron James in the airport, Rich Paul sold his new buddy two jerseys, Magic Johnson Lakers and Joe Namath Rams. What started as a pragmatic exchange, however, soon evolved into a genuine bond, and in 2003, when the basketball player got drafted into the NBA, Paul joined James’ close team alongside his two childhood friends Maverick Carter and Randy Mims.
Thanks to the new connections, Paul was able to land a position at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), working under a prominent sports agent Leon Rose. At the same time, Paul also allegedly received a $50,000 salary from James to essentially act as his “glorified personal assistant.” During this period, Paul was able to hone his skills, getting to know the intricacies of sports management from the inside, a knowledge so valuable that Paul described his time at CAA as an “equivalent of going to Michigan Law School and to MIT”.
The valuable connections made back then helped Rich Paul to eventually launch his own sports agency. Established in 2013 with LeBron James as the inaugural client, Klutch Sports Group was able to scoop several household names like Lonzo Ball, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Chris Livingston, Scotty Pippen Jr., J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Zach LaVine, John Wall, Ben Simmons and more. By 2022, the agency had successfully negotiated about $1.4 billion worth of NBA contracts for its clients.
In 2019, Rich Paul made headlines by voicing his disagreement with the regulation change from the National Collegiate Athletic Association that would require sports agents to hold a bachelor’s degree. The new rule was seen by many as a personal jab at Paul, who shortly before had negotiated a deal for high school prospect Darius Bazley to intern at New Balance and then enter an NBA draft rather than play college basketball for Syracuse University. As a college dropout himself, Paul argued in his op-ed for The Athletic that the rule was aimed at preventing young people from less prestigious backgrounds, and often people of color, from working in the system they continue to control. The NCAA eventually backtracked the regulation.
In 2020, Rich Paul joined the board of directors at the United Talent Agency (UTA) after it acquired much of Klutch Sports. Since working with UTA, Klutch Sports has expanded its reach beyond basketball into professional football and baseball with acquisitions of Revolution Sports Agency and Tidal Sports Group. In May 2023, the agency also started representing NFL talent, building upon a client base of the acquired ELITE Athlete Management.
What is Rich Paul's Net Worth in 2024?
As of 2024, Rich Pauls's estimated net worth stands at a whopping $120 million, which comes as no surprise given that his agency Klutch Sports has so far negotiated over $1.4 billion in contracts for its clients. It’s worth noting, however, that Paul’s publicly disclosed net worth almost exclusively comes from his NBA deals and doesn’t account for other sources of income, such as investments and paid endorsements.
According to Forbes, in 2022 alone Rich Paul made $55 million in commissions. Racking up $30 million every year on average at Klutch Sports has enabled Paul to indulge in lavish real estate investments over the years. In 2016, he bought a home in Beverly Grove for $3 million. Two years later, he expanded his property collection with the purchase of a brand-new mansion in Fairfax for $4.35 million. His taste for luxury continued in 2019 when he acquired a new home in Beverly Hills for $11.7 million. In August 2022, it was revealed that Hollywood A-lister Adele, his fiancée, secured a $37.7 million mortgage loan to co-finance a stunning Beverly Hills mega-mansion with Paul, which they purchased from Sylvester Stallone for a whopping $58 million.
How does Rich Paul make his money?
Rich Paul's primary source of income comes from his role as a sports agent, specifically through Klutch Sports Group, which represents some of the NBA's biggest stars, including LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green. As the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports, Paul reportedly takes a 4 percent cut from every deal he negotiates on behalf of his clients. These contracts often amount to millions of dollars, such as Fred Vanvleet’s three-year deal with the Houston Rockets for $130 million, which netted Paul a cool $5.2 million.
A sizable portion of Paul’s wealth comes from him negotiating deals for LeBron James alone. From 2014 to 2022 James entered $427.9 million worth of contracts, so a total 4% commission for Paul would amount to $17.1 million! And this is without all the off-court business deals and endorsements brokered by Paul.
In addition to his earnings as a sports agent, it’s safe to assume that a non-negligible amount of Rich Paul’s net worth comes from his passive investments. The sports shark is also known for his personal endorsements of products, such as his collaboration with New Balance that produced the “Forever Yours” colorway and apparel collection.
Personal Life
In 2021, Rich Paul went public with his romance with British singer-songwriter Adele. The couple made their first public appearance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, where Adele won the award for best pop solo performance for her song "Easy on Me." They got engaged in 2024, and the news was announced by Adele during her Munich concert.
According to Adele’s interview with Vogue in 2021, she met Paul at a party a couple of years ago. By her own admission, she was a bit drunk and approached Paul with a flirtatious question: “Do you want to sign me? I'm an athlete now.”
Although little is known about Paul’s dating life before his romance with Adele, it’s known that the sports agent has three children, with his oldest daughter, Reonna, born around the same time he was a hustling college dropout selling jerseys. As Paul recalled, being a young dad and running a business was pretty tough, but he said he’s still open to having more kids and is looking forward to being a different, more present dad this time.
From what is known, Adele seems to be engaged in Paul’s children’s life. In 2024, when Reonna graduated from Clark Atlanta University, the singer couldn’t be present at the ceremony but gave her stepdaughter a shout-out during the Las Vegas concert. "I love you, darling. Congratulations!" she shared her joy with the crowd.
According to unknown sources cited by People, Rich Paul was previously in a serious relationship with Tobey Maguire's ex-wife Jennifer Meyer before dating Adele.
Rich Paul’s book
In June 2023, Rich Paul published his memoir, Lucky Me, which was published by Roc Lit 101, the publishing division of Jay-Z's Roc Nation. The choice of a publishing house is not random in this case: Lucky Me is Paul’s favorite Jay-Z song that he described as the soundtrack of his life.
The memoir, which documents Paul’s upbringing in Cleveland and his breakthrough in sports, also has a second meaning in its title. As Paul admits, he was lucky to not die before age 21 or not end up in jail, as many of his peers from the neighborhood did. Finally, this is also a sarcastic dig at critics, who are quick to attribute his success to riding the coattails of LeBron James.
“In the world we live in today, people only see the highlights. And the highlights aren't what necessarily makes someone. It's their resilience, it's their perseverance, it's their continuous ability to get up when falling. I always wanted to make sure people understood the journey, and how difficult it is,” Paul shared candidly.
