RICH PAUL SAYS NO ATHLETE CAN AFFORD TO FLY PRIVATE ALL THE TIME

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Earn Your Leisure – "RICH PAUL SAYS NO ATHLETE CAN AFFORD TO FLY PRIVATE ALL THE TIME"
Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts: Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings (with guest Rich Paul)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the financial realities and mindsets behind the glamorous public images of elite athletes, with Clutch Sports founder Rich Paul offering raw insights into the real economics of sports, wealth, and generational opportunity. Paul debunks myths perpetuated by social media, discusses the importance of financial education and infrastructure, and shares personal experiences guiding athletes beyond their playing careers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Realities of Athlete Wealth & Lifestyle

• Short Career Window:
  • Rich emphasizes that even the highest-earning athletes face a unique set of challenges—most notably, the brevity of their careers.
  • "They're done at 33. Everyone's not going to play to their 40. They're done when they're 33. That money's taxed. You know, they're paying a 55, 51 tax.” (03:57)
• Survivor's Remorse & Obligations:
  • Athletes often feel pressure to provide for extended family and social circles, compounding their financial stress.
  • "For athletes, we all have survivor's remorse, right?...we feel obligated." (03:39)

The Myth of Endless Luxury

• The Private Jet Fallacy:

  • Paul bluntly addresses misconceptions about athlete wealth, specifically the sustainability of flying private.
  • "No athlete can afford to fly private all the time. Yet we see so many athletes on the Instagram flying private. I fly Delta. I cannot afford to fly private. And that's okay with me." (04:37)
  • He clarifies he travels commercially and avoids flaunting the occasional luxury private flight online.
  • "The times I do fly private, you will never see it on Instagram because it's not for show." (08:47)

• Living Within Means:

  • "I'm just trying to get where I'm trying to go to make the money. I'm not trying to spend the money." (08:42)
  • Rich says he's content riding in Comfort Plus on Delta if it means economic responsibility.

Infrastructure, Collaboration, and the Black Wealth Gap

• Building, Not Flexing:
  • Paul stresses the importance of infrastructure, both in personal finance and in community development.
  • "You have to value infrastructure in any business, in anything, whether that's a family infrastructure, whether it's a business infrastructure...you can't scale without the infrastructure." (08:56)
• Breaking Cycles:
  • He reflects on the tendency to compete rather than collaborate among peers from similar backgrounds, which hinders generational progress.
  • "We want to conquer. That's why we're killing each other. We want to conquer. There can only be one king which allows you not to collaborate. If you don't collaborate, then that means we're not communicating. If we're not communicating, then that means we're unable to build what? A community?" (10:03)
• Generational Wealth & Mentorship:
  • Rich advocates for creative financial planning, such as pooling resources and learning from established investors, to plant seeds for future wealth.
  • "Imagine if we had our own fund that we allow him to oversee as well as someone from Blackstone or someone from Apollo or someone from Aries. And then we compounded just 20% of that income. I don't need the whole tree ... I just want a little piece of the bark." (09:40)

Personal Evolution and Humility

• Adapting & Letting Go:
  • Paul reflects on the importance of changing habits and mindsets once achieving success, especially for those from tough backgrounds.
  • "Once I made it out, I can't go back and glorify this, the same things and not give it up, right?" (11:30)
• On Opportunity & Capability:
  • He stresses capability over charity when creating jobs in his circle.
  • "But if you're going to ask me for a job, you also have to be capable of doing the work. I can't give you anything, right? You got to be capable of actually doing it once that opportunity is given. And so it's a two way street." (12:01)
• Managing Life’s Transitions:
  • Rich likens life stages to a car’s transmission—knowing when to accelerate, reverse, park, or go neutral.
  • "Life is all about managing transitions. You have to be able to. That's why a car comes with a transmission. To understand those gears, you got to know when to park, when reverse, when to stay neutral and when to accelerate." (12:35)

Humble Beginnings & Commitment to Growth

• Early Days with LeBron James:
  • Paul recounts his modest salary when working for LeBron and the deliberate choice to become financially independent.
  • "The most money I ever made working for LeBron was $48,000 a year... I was only on his salary for two years. That was since '06... It was important for me to get off of his payroll as fast as I possibly could." (12:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “No athlete can afford to fly private all the time. Yet we see so many athletes on Instagram flying private. I fly Delta. I cannot afford to fly private. And that's okay with me.”
  (Rich Paul, 04:37)

• “I'm just trying to get where I'm trying to go to make the money. I'm not trying to spend the money.”
  (Rich Paul, 08:42)

• “We've all been in a situation where we had to make decisions. Say, you know what, let me just back up a little bit or let me just park it right here before or if it's going great, let me hit the gas and get to where I'm trying to go.”
  (Rich Paul, 12:40)

• “Once I made it out, I can't go back and glorify this the same things and not give it up, right?”
  (Rich Paul, 11:30)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:28] – Financial education and planning conversation begins
• [04:37] – The economics of flying private & athlete spending myths
• [08:42] – Living within your means and humility around flying commercial
• [08:56] – Value of infrastructure in business and family life
• [09:40] – Generational wealth and the need for creative, collective investment
• [10:03] – Cultural pressures, competition vs. collaboration in Black communities
• [12:35] – Life transitions, transmission metaphor
• [12:56] – Story of working for LeBron and the drive for financial independence

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Episode Tone & Style

Rich Paul’s delivery is both candid and motivational. The tone is straightforward, with an emphasis on honesty, humility, and actionable wisdom. Both the hosts and guest foster a genuine, no-nonsense dialogue that blends financial literacy with real life lessons from the highest echelons of the sports and business world.

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Perfect episode for:
Anyone interested in sports, personal finance, building wealth from humble beginnings, and breaking cycles for future generations.

Transcript

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It's very important. And I'm telling you, man, athletes, they live a tough life. It looks great. But when you think about all they endure and the pull down, you know, I always tell my family, let me be your back line of defense. You know, don't, don't allow yourself to think that what's mine is yours. But if I'm your back line of defense, then, you know, we can really stay afloat. For athletes. We all have survivor's remorse, right? We all have that feeling that we, we feel obligated. And like Mr. Bridgman said, I got guys, 22 making $200 million over the next four or five years. I got several of those guys, right? And by the way, but, but the reality of it is I'm constantly telling them that's not a lot of money based upon where you're starting because you're starting from zero, right? So how do we understand how to compound that? Because they're done at 33. Everyone's not going to be play to their 40. They're done when they're 33. That money's taxed. You know, they're paying a 55, 51 tax. Not to mention jeans today, the ones they want that they're buying in excess, which they probably don't really need, that cost two grand. It's not the same. His jeans cost 25 the difference. And so it's all relative. No athlete can afford to fly private all the time. Yet we see so many athletes on the Instagram flying private. I fly Delta. I cannot afford to fly private. And that's okay with me. You know what? And I'll fly. I'll.

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Comfort Plus?

[A]

Yeah, because I'm just trying to get where I'm trying to go to make the money. I'm not trying to spend the money, you know, I'm trying to get there.

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You know.

[A]

And and the times I do five private you will never see it on Instagram because it's not for show. And so I think that again, it's just this mentality. You have to value infrastructure in any business, in anything, whether that's a family infrastructure, whether it's a business infrastructure, you have to have that you can't scale without the infrastructure. But again, growing up, all we know is how to compete amongst one another.

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We don't.

[A]

He's been around a long time. These guys have come in and out the league. They don't aspire to be him, right? But they want to be the rappers, etc, because they want to do things in excess. He's got an unbelievable portfolio. Imagine if we had our own fund that we allow him to oversee as well as someone from Blackstone or someone from Apollo or someone from Aries. And then we compounded just 20% of that income. I don't need the whole tree. In the circles I run in, they're, they're, they're much more wealthy than I am. But I like, I tell them I just want a little piece of the bark. I don't need the whole, you know, I don't need, I just want to get in the back seat, right? I'm shut up. I'm sit back here. You don't even notice I'm here. That's how I look at myself. And I, I really believe that. And so I just try to get my guys to understand that. Because we come from an environment to where we only want to conquer. We want to conquer. That's why we're killing each other. We want to conquer. There can only be one king which allows you not to collaborate. If you don't collaborate, then that means we're not communicating. If we're not communicating, then that means we're unable to build what? A community? If we don't build a community, then how are we going to build anything generational? You just saying some shit that sound great, you know what I'm saying, But that's not, it's not realistic without taking the proper steps. You understand what I'm saying? And we've all been there. You know, I come from a. Just a tough place as anybody in the world. But at the same time, I can't have the same habits. Once I made it out, I can't go back and glorify this the same things and not give it up, right? But if you're going to ask me for a job, you also have to be capable of doing the work. I can't give you anything, right? You got to be capable of Actually doing it once that opportunity is given. And so it's a two way street. And I'm just, you know, I stress, I really stress this all the time. I want to be able to hire as many people as I can. Right. But you got to have the capabilities. And so, you know, let's match each other's energy from that perspective. And like you said, everybody's not gonna get rich. They don't. That's not realistic. But you in position. We didn't grow up next to people that have careers. They had hustles jobs, some had decent jobs, very few had good ass jobs and careers. It's just the truth. And so we're trying to fill our way through. And life is all about managing transitions. You have to be able to. That's why a car comes with a transmission. To understand those gears, you got to know when to park, when reverse, when to stay neutral and when to accelerate. That is real in life itself as well. We've all been in a situation where we had to make decisions. Say, you know what, let me just back up a little bit or let me just park it right here before or if it's going great, let me hit the gas and get to where I'm trying to go. And so that's how I think every day I wake up. I've never celebrated one deal I've done. Not one. When I started working with LeBron and for LeBron I only. The most money I ever made working for LeBron was $48,000 a year. That's the most I ever made. I was only on his salary for two years. That was since 06. I've been off his payroll. Right win 2023. It was important for me to get off of his payroll as fast as I possibly could. That was very important to me.

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