Jake Paul

1997–present

Jake Paul Today: Influencer Stars in Paul American

A new reality series gives viewers an inside look at the “high-octane” lives of Jake Paul and his brother, Logan. Paul American, which began March 27, follows the influencers and athletic headliners across eight episodes.

Jake, a 28-year-old boxing star, and Logan, a 29-year-old part-time WWE competitor, serve as executive producers on the Max series. With new episodes releasing weekly through May 15, Paul American provides access to the siblings’ inner circle and personal lives.

“As athletes, we’ve poured everything into proving ourselves in the ring and breaking barriers in sports, entertainment, and beyond. But at the core of it all is family and the relationships that keep us grounded,” the brothers said in a combined statement. “This series dives into the moments that define us and the bonds that make us unstoppable.”

Days before the series began, Jake proposed to his girlfriend Jutta Leerdam. The couple, who have been together since 2023, announced the news on Instagram with the caption: “We’re engaged💍🕊️🤍we can’t wait to spend forever together🥹.” They described it as “the most magical day of our lives” in a subsequent video post.

Influencer Jake Paul gained fame as a social media content creator before launching a boxing career in 2018. As a teenager, the Ohio native built a fan base through viral Vine videos also featuring his brother, Logan Paul. He then launched his own YouTube channel with stunt- and prank-heavy videos. The channel now has more than 20 million subscribers. Although popular, some videos sparked controversy over their content and Jake’s behavior. Known by his nickname “the Problem Child,” Jake most recently faced former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a November 2024 megafight on Netflix. He is engaged to Olympic speed skater Jutta Leerdam.

FULL NAME: Jake Joseph Paul
BORN: January 17, 1997
BIRTHPLACE: Cleveland, Ohio
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn
HEIGHT: 6 ft. 1 in.

Jake Joseph Paul was born on January 17, 1997, in Cleveland and grew up in the suburb of Westlake, Ohio. His parents are Greg Paul and Pam Stepnick, and Jake has an older brother, Logan Paul.

Greg and Pam divorced when Jake was 7, which created a lot of tension among the family. “There was mental manipulation, and my mom trying to get me on her side, my dad trying to get me on his side,” Jake told The Hollywood Reporter. “All these games and madness and just psychological craziness.”

Jake described his parents as “really strict” and “intense” while growing up, even accusing his father of punching and slapping him and his brother. Greg has denied any allegations of abuse toward his sons but did admit to showing them tough love. “I said, ‘Jake, I did pick you up and throw you on a couch a couple of times,” Greg recalled in the Netflix documentary Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child. “That’s what the f–– dads are supposed to do. Welcome to life, get the f–– over it.” Despite the alleged animosity, Jake remains close with his father.

Jake, who as a teenager had aspirations of becoming a Navy SEAL, also clashed with his older brother and struggled at Westlake High School. According to Logan, Jake had a 1.7 GPA and committed theft and other petty crimes before eventually dropping out. By this time, though, Jake had already started to gain popularity through a growing hobby for many teenagers: social media.

Jake Paul gained millions of followers on his Vine and YouTube channels.

In 2013, Paul, then 16, began posting videos to Vine, a pioneering video app where users uploaded looping clips up to six seconds long. His videos, often including his older brother and their friends, drew 2 billion views and more than 5 million subscribers before Vine shuttered.

Relocating to Los Angeles with Logan in 2014, 17-year-old Paul continued uploading videos to his personal YouTube channel that often featured stunts and pranks. With his own career taking off, Paul established the social media label Team 10, a collective of influencers aspiring to grow their digital footprint.

In the meantime, his content’s popularity allowed him to expand into acting. In 2016, Paul starred in YouTube Red movie Dance Camp and began a recurring role on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, starring emerging singer Olivia Rodrigo. However, Paul’s stint on the show was short-lived because of his notoriety.

Social Media Controversies

Although his videos proved popular, Paul drew criticism for their content and his oncamera behavior. In July 2017, KTLA 5 reported that Paul’s neighbors in the Beverly Grove area of Los Angeles were considering a class action lawsuit against the influencer. According to residents, some of the stunts featured on Paul’s channel—including using his pool as a large fire pit—had turned the neighborhood into a “war zone.”

Paul called the situation “terrible” but largely dismissed the criticism: “I feel bad for them, for sure. There’s nothing we can do, though—the Jake Paulers are the strongest army out there.” Within days of the report, Disney released a statement saying Paul and the company had mutually agreed to end his role on Bizaardvark.

Later that year, Paul made xenophobic comments to a fan from Kazakhstan in another video. “It sounds like you’re just going to blow someone up. You’re like, ‘Send the nuke!’” he said. Not long after this clip went viral, Paul apologized while accepting his Teen Choice award for Choice YouTuber. “The past few months have humbled me quite a bit, and I have to be more mindful of my actions and words and how they impact others,” he said.

However, Paul continued to do the opposite. In January 2018, Paul posted a video titled “I lost my virginity…” that featured a thumbnail appearing to show the creator and his ex-girlfriend Erika Costell, who was partially nude. Although the clip didn’t have any explicit content—the title actually referred to Paul skiing for the first time—the negative response prompted Paul to upload a different thumbnail. That same month, Paul stirred more controversy when a video showed him using the N-word while freestyle rapping.

Even with all the negative attention, Paul’s social media antics proved lucrative. According to Forbes, he made as much as $21.5 million from content creation in 2018. Still, Paul decided it was time to branch out professionally.

In 2018, Paul—who is listed at 6-foot-1 and has estimated his weight around 216 pounds—made a transition to athletics and began boxing competitively. In some ways, it was a return to his childhood interests. Growing up, he had played football before switching to wrestling in high school.

His first bout was an amateur white-collar match against YouTube creator Deji Olatunji. After winning multiple lower-level fights via knockout, Paul began to take on trained fighters from other disciplines. He defeated former MMA champion Ben Askren via knockout and bested former UFC champion Tyron Woodley twice in 2021. Capitalizing on growing interest in his career, Paul, with the help of an advisor, formed his own promotion company, Most Valuable Promotions.

Over the next two years, Paul scheduled attention-grabbing fights against big-name UFC stars Anderson Silva (win by unanimous decision) and Nate Diaz (win by unanimous decision) as well as boxer Tommy Fury (loss by split decision). Now fully established in the ring, he eyed a lucrative match against a boxing icon.

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

In March 2024, Paul announced via social media that his next fight would be against former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who’s roughly 30 years his senior. Netflix obtained the TV rights for the bout, which was hosted at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Originally scheduled for that July, the match was postponed until November 15, 2024, after Tyson experienced an ulcer flare-up during a flight. Tyson’s health raised questions about his safety against the much younger Paul. However, Tyson maintained he would end Paul’s boxing career. “I gave him his warning: Fight like your life depends on it because it does,” Tyson said.

Unlike a traditional prize fight with 12 rounds lasting 3 minutes, the match featured only eight rounds at 2 minutes each, with the competitors wearing heavier gloves. Animosity grew between the pair, with Tyson slapping Paul during their pre-fight weigh in. Paul’s response that Tyson “must die” in the ring quickly went viral.

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s boxing match in November 2024 was streamed by 60 million households.

According to Netflix, 60 million households streamed the fight live, though the unusually large audience led to buffering and lagging issues for many subscribers. Those that could watch saw Paul win by unanimous decision. However, the lack of hard punches led some to question the fight’s legitimacy.

As of March 2025, Paul hasn’t announced his next opponent. He reportedly had a fight agreement with multitime boxing champion Canelo Alvarez but later accused the pugilist of “ducking out” of their deal. “The truth is you could be bought. You’re a money hungry squirrel chasing your next nut,” Paul said in a video message.

Amid his transition to boxing, Paul continued to make unsavory headlines in his personal life. He was charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and unlawful assembly after police identified him participating in a May 2020 riot at a mall near Phoenix. That same year, police raided Paul’s home in Calabasas, California, in connection with the riot and seized multiple firearms. The charges against him were ultimately dismissed.

Then in April 2021, TikTok creator Justine Paradise released a 20-minute video accusing Paul of sexual assault. Paradise said that during meetings at Paul’s Team 10 house in 2019, he forced her to perform oral sex and touched her inappropriately without consent. She claimed she didn’t speak out sooner because of a nondisclosure agreement she signed, which was standard for all guests of Paul. Railey Lollie, a 21-year-old model and actor, separately accused Paul of groping her in a New York Times report.

Paul wasn’t formally charged with any wrongdoing. In a statement to Twitter (now X), Paul called Paradise’s allegations “100% false” and said he intended to sue her for defamation. “I respect women and mothers more than anything. I most certainly have never laid a finger on a girl without their consent,” he added.

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Paul’s total fortune around $100 million as of January 2025.

Forbes has estimated as much as 90 percent of Paul’s earnings are from boxing. In 2023, Paul said he made $30 million from his fight against Tommy Fury. His bout with Mike Tyson was even more lucrative, with multiple reports valuing the payout around $40 million.

Paul is involved in additional business ventures, padding his earnings. In 2022, he co-founded Betr, a mobile sports betting company. Two years later, in 2024, he launched the W line of men’s care products available at supermarkets such as Walmart and Kroger.

Olympic speed skater Jutta Leerdam and Jake Paul went public with their relationship in April 2023.

On March 21, 2025, Paul proposed to his girlfriend of roughly two years, Jutta Leerdam. The Olympic speed skater from the Netherlands is about two years younger than Paul. She has won six world championships and earned a silver medal in the 1000-meter race at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Leerdam revealed in the Netflix documentary series Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson the couple met through Instagram, when Paul asked her to appear on his podcast. “When he hit me up online, I thought, ‘What an arrogant (expletive). He thinks he can do anything, but he won’t get me.’ I never expected to date him,” she explained. He confirmed their relationship in April 2023 via Instagram.

The pair revealed they are often apart because of their respective training schedules. “Because we’re a long-distance relationship, whenever she goes to sleep at night, I’ll send her three to five videos making her feel like she’s a part of everything we have going on at night,” Paul said in a 2023 interview.

Like Paul, Leerdam is a popular social media figure with 5 million followers on Instagram and 1.6 million on TikTok. She gained even more visibility by attending Paul’s November 2024 boxing match against Tyson. Their relationship is highlighted in the 2025 Max series Paul American, about Jake and Logan’s personal lives and athletic endeavors.

Prior to dating Leerdam, Paul made headlines when he married internet celebrity Tana Mongeau in 2019 in Las Vegas. However, the couple didn’t acquire a license for the wedding, which fans could stream live with premium purchase, so it wasn’t legally binding. Paul and Mongeau later revealed they faked the nuptials as a stunt to promote their respective content. They broke up by 2020.

• The line of hate is very close to love. And jealousy is just love plus hate.
• I believe God is ushering me to change the world in many ways, inspiring so many people—in so many different ways—to go chase their dreams. I’m the living, breathing, most relatable version of that.
• The deepest insults are the ones that you believe to be true within your own mind. Those are your insecurities.
• I’m a fighter. I fought for everything I have in my life. I’ve really built everything from grit, hard work, determination, and it’s been a fight. I’ve learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes.

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Tyler Piccotti

News and Culture Editor, Biography.com

Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.