United Talent Agency has named Rich Paul, agent to basketball superstar LeBron James, to its board of directors.
The move was announced on Monday, a year after UTA made an investment in Paul’s Klutch Sports Group. Paul also serves as head of UTA Sports and is a UTA partner.
Paul founded Klutch in 2012 and signed NBA clients, including James, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons and John Wall. In the past year, since working with UTA, Klutch has expanded into professional football and baseball with acquisitions of Revolution Sports Agency and Tidal Sports Group.
“Our association with Rich Paul has been a true bright spot since he partnered with us a year ago,” said UTA CEO and board member Jeremy Zimmer. “We were determined to come together and build a cutting edge, full-service representation arm for athletes, and are well on our way. Adding Rich to the Board gives us additional perspective and support as we strive to be the best company for all our colleagues and clients. Rich has a keen and unblinking eye for the truth of how we all win together.”
In 2019, Paul launched “Klutch Conversations” in partnership with Chance the Rapper’s charity, SocialWorks, and General Mills to focus on youth empowerment through arts, education, sports and civic engagement.
Paul thanked the agency for the appointment, adding, “These are opportunities not often presented to Black men and women, so it comes with added responsibility to use my position not just to help drive a global business forward but to create more chances for people who look like me and face the same challenges I did. My motivation is to help ensure all young people of color live up to their potential and succeed in the face of the systemic inequality that remains as real today as ever.”