Designer Brands is one of North America’s largest designers, producers and retailers of footwear and accessories. Our business segments include world-class design and sourcing operations, a robust wholesaling business, and more than 1,000 points of distribution.
Rich Paul is the CEO and founder of KLUTCH Sports Group, the powerhouse agency representing some of the biggest athletes across major professional sports. Paul founded KLUTCH Sports in 2012 in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, where he forged a unique and personal approach to representing top NBA talent – putting athletes first and empowering them to build careers and brands on and off the court. Paul also serves as United Talent Agency's (UTA's) Head of Sports and is an agency partner, and was appointed to UTA's Board of Directors in 2020.
In 2019, Paul was named GQ's "PowerBroker of the Year" and "The King Maker" on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In 2021, TIME recognized KLUTCH Sports on its first-ever list of TIME100 Most Influential Companies, and Variety recently named Paul to their "Variety500" list of the most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry. Paul is also credited with driving the reversal of the so-called "Rich Paul Rule," which would have banned agents without a college degree from representing NCAA student athletes.
In 2021, Paul and three former Nike executives formed a company called ADOPT, a creative agency focused on sport, wellness, nutrition, tech and other consumer facing products. Paul joined the Board of Trustees of LACMA and the Board of Directors of Funko in 2022. Paul is also a minority partner of The SpringHill Company.
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