LeBron James’ longtime friend and agent Rich Paul has had a marvellous journey that began as a drug dealer. While Paul claimed that his experience on the streets played a role in the $120,000,000 empire that he eventually built, he was not the only James confidante who had a similar journey. Maverick Carter also knew James right from childhood and also had experience dealing drugs in Akron, before interning with Nike.
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Now worth a whopping $60,000,000, Carter took inspiration from an Albert Einstein quote in order to turn his life around. While Carter has been James’ business partner since 2006, Rich Paul’s career has involved him regularly taking big-money risks, according to an interview with CBS News. Paul has now negotiated deals worth over $4,000,000,000 for his plethora of clients.
Rich Paul used to sell drugs before building a $120,000,000 empire
Recently speaking to CBS News, Paul went into detail about his early life. He claimed that it was the death of his father which pushed him towards drug dealing.
Paul’s father, Rich Paul Sr., passed away when James’ friend was just 19 after a long battle with cancer. The sports agent claimed that he respected his father too much to get into drug dealing when he was alive. However, at the age of 19, he was selling marijuana and crack cocaine on the streets after his death.
“The absence of my dad allowed me to– to take that step, because I woulda never done that had he been around. I had too much respect for him. And it’s not something that I would sit here and, and glorify.”
Paul also claimed that he had too much respect for his father, and had no intention of glorifying his time from back then. He compared himself to Jeff Bezos, claiming that he had always been a hustler like the Amazon founder:
“Jeff Bezos is a hustler. Think he’s not? Phil Knight was the ultimate hustler. The difference is, they could go with their plan and their business idea and get someone to believe in them. It didn’t matter what idea I had. There’s no pathway to get there.”
Paul revealed that the stark difference between Bezos and himself was that he did not have a business plan. However, Paul has lived a life of hustle, and it eventually led him to build a humungous empire that continues to reap rewards.
Maverick Carter had a similar childhood as Rich Paul
Paul is not the only one who was involved in drug dealing at the start of their career. According to LeBron James Inc. by Brian Windhorst, Carter was dealing drugs as a teenager even though he knew that was not what he was supposed to do.
Eventually interning with Nike, he turned around his life and took inspiration from his seniors. That was in addition to an Albert Einstein quote that talked about curiosity and having no “special talent.”
Carter thought that while he himself did not have a special, unique talent like his friend James, he had a curiosity that could lead him to financial success. That also proved to be true, as he is now worth a whopping $60,000,000.
