Rich Kleiman
BornNovember 27, 1976
NationalityAmerican
Known forAgent of Kevin Durant
co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures
SpouseJana Ilyse Gold

Rich Kleiman (born November 27, 1976) is an American entrepreneur. A native New Yorker, he is Kevin Durant’s longtime agent and later business partner with Durant in 35V (Thirty Five Ventures). Founded in 2016, 35V incorporates Kleiman and Durant's business entities, including Durant’s personal brand marketing portfolio and on-court contracts, an investment portfolio and the sports business media network Boardroom.[1][2][3][4] Forbes has called Kleiman a visionary with an "established track records in starting companies, investing in emerging brands and in disrupting existing markets."[5][6]

Early life and career

After growing up on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York, Kleiman enrolled at Boston University before dropping out after one semester. Kleiman lived in Boston for 2 years, working as a bookie, then spent a year in Boca Raton, Florida.[7]

Music industry career

Kleiman entered the music industry in 1998 as a partner in OneLevel.com, a hip-hop community commerce website. Kleiman led marketing and built relationships with celebrities such as Robert De Niro, Heavy D, and Q-Tip. During this time, Kleiman began a professional relationship with British DJ Mark Ronson, then relatively unknown. When Ronson was given his own label imprint under Elektra Records in 2003, he asked Kleiman, by then his manager, to manage the business side. Ronson and Kleiman together launched Allido Records, and had clients including Wale, Rhymefest, Saigon, and Daniel Merriweather. The pair also opened a studio in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Artists including Amy Winehouse and J Cole recorded at the studio.[7]

Through John Meneilly, Kleiman met Jay-Z, and went on to produce the rapper's Fade To Black documentary in 2004. Kleiman connecting Wale and Jay-Z, and Wale credited Kleiman with his decision to drop out of school and pursue his music career. Kleiman joined Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2008. At Roc Nation, Kleiman managed artists such as Wale, Meek Mill, DJ Nice, and Solange.[7][8]

Roc Nation and sports

In 2008, Wale introduced Kleiman to a then 19-year old Kevin Durant, who had recently won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, at a Jay-Z concert at Madison Square Garden. Kleiman officially became Durant's agent and manager in 2012. Kleiman played an integral role in the launch of Roc Nation Sports in 2013, and served as the unit's vice president.[7]

At Roc Nation Sports, Kleiman also worked with athletes such as Victor Cruz, CC Sabathia, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Robinson Canó.[8][9][10] Kleiman's career in entertainment began at Radical Media, where he was a music supervisor, as well as a producer on projects such as Jay-Z's feature-length documentary Fade To Black.[11][12][13]

35V (Thirty Five Ventures)

In 2016, Kleiman and Durant launched their Thirty Five Ventures (35V) investment company.[7] Kleiman's early years at 35V included investments in more than 100 companies, including digital sports network Overtime, digital currency platform Coinbase, spare change app Acorns, delivery company Postmates and NBA Top Shot by Dapper Labs.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Under Kleiman, 35V started investing in emerging sports teams such as Philadelphia Union and Gotham FC, as well as sports leagues including Premier Lacrosse League and Athletes Unlimited Volleyball.[21][22][23]

35V's flagship project is Boardroom, a media network that covers the business of sports, entertainment and culture. Boardroom was launched in 2019 and includes editorial, video, social media content, daily newsletters and podcasts by Kleiman and Durant.[2][24][25]

Kleiman and Durant media projects under the Boardroom umbrella include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the scripted series Swagger (by Apple TV+) and the 2022 Showtime documentary NYC Point Gods.[11][12][13]

Personal life

Kleiman married Jana Ilyse Gold in November 2003. They have two children. Mark Ronson, Kleiman's long-time friend, is the godfather to one of Kleiman's children. Kleiman's family resides on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.[26][7]

References

  1. ^ Zucker, Joseph. "Rich Kleiman: Kevin Durant '100 Percent Undecided' on Future Amid Knicks Rumors". Bleacher Report.
  2. ^ a b Malkin, Marc (February 1, 2021). "Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman Announce New Video Series for Boardroom (EXCLUSIVE)".
  3. ^ Cash, Meredith. "Take a tour of Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's swanky New York City office space for Thirty Five Ventures". Insider.
  4. ^ "Inside The Boardroom: How Kevin Durant made himself into a mogul". ESPN.com.
  5. ^ Releases, Forbes Press. "NBA All-Star Kevin Durant And His Thirty Five Ventures Partner Rich Kleiman To Join Speaker Lineup At Forbes Under 30 Summit In Detroit, Presented By Rocket Mortgage By Quicken Loans". Forbes.
  6. ^ Hasse, Javier. "Kevin Durant And Rich Kleiman Join A Cannabis Company". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Saponara, Michael (2022-07-26). "From Working With Jay-Z to Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman Mastered the Music and Sports Worlds". Billboard. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  8. ^ a b "6 Questions With Rich Kleiman". Billboard.
  9. ^ Goldberg, Wes. "Kyrie Irving To Sign With Jay-Z's Roc Nation". Forbes.
  10. ^ "With Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports, #NewRules For Kevin Durant". July 2, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Rich Kleiman on 'Basketball County,' possibility of a Durant return and more". The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  12. ^ a b "Durant, Conley become Oscar winners as executive producers of 'Two Distant Strangers'". ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports. 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  13. ^ a b Petski, Denise (2021-01-15). "'Swagger': Apple's Kevin Durant Basketball Drama Adds Nine To Cast". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  14. ^ Lewis, Brian (April 25, 2021). "Kevin Durant's business world takeover is just getting started".
  15. ^ Evans, Kelley D. (2016-09-19). "Kevin Durant is becoming quite the businessman". Andscape. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  16. ^ "Kevin Durant And Rich Kleiman Invested In Coinbase When The Valuation Was $1.6B. Today, Coinbase Is Worth $100B". Yardbarker. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  17. ^ Sprung, Shlomo. "Overtime, Kevin Durant's The Boardroom Announce Young CEO Experience Conference With Naomi Osaka, Adam Silver". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  18. ^ Bumbaca, Chris. "Q&A with Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou on future of NBA Top Shot, sports digital collectibles". USA Today. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  19. ^ "Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant Making a Ton of Money off Uber's Acquisition of Postmates". Nothin' But Nets. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  20. ^ Mueller, Rich (2021-02-17). "The Chernin Group, Sports Stars Make $40 Million Investment in Goldin Auctions". Sports Collectors Daily. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  21. ^ Melanie Anzidei. "Thirty Five Ventures, co-founded by Kevin Durant, joins Gotham FC as minority investor". NorthJersey.com.
  22. ^ Mike Vorkunov. "Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's Boardroom is a 25-person company. What's next?". The Athletic.
  23. ^ Doug Greenberg (20 October 2022). "Kevin Durant, Thirty Five Ventures Latest to Invest in Pickleball". Front Office Sports.
  24. ^ "'Some podcast conversations will result in business': Rich Kleiman on building The Boardroom". www.sportspromedia.com. 2 October 2020.
  25. ^ "INSIDE 'THE BOARDROOM': How 35 Ventures Is Building a New Platform". SLAM. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  26. ^ Morse, Brit (2020-08-10). "Rich Kleiman: How to Create Your Own Dream Job". Inc.com. Retrieved 2021-06-16.

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