Josh Richards is an entrepreneur, musician, writer, actor, social media influencer (details here) and host. Amassing a social following of over 41 million, Richards has used his rapidly growing audience as a launchpad to establish himself in spaces across entertainment.
Partnering his success in entertainment with his passion for entrepreneurship, Richards received mentorship from Mark Wahlberg and his company Unrealistic Ideas in 2021 to guide the founding of Richard’s company CrossCheck Studios, a full-service media company that specializes in Gen Z content creation and activation, with a focus on becoming the premier venue for internet-native creators. Richards serves as CEO of the company, which creates and develops both scripted and unscripted content, executed brand partnerships, and more, all with Gen-Z in mind.
In 2022, Amazon Studios partnered with Richards to create and produce TV content exclusively for Amazon under a first look deal. Through this partnership, Richards serves as a brand ambassador for Prime Video’s inaugural season of NFL’s Thursday Night Football, which has exceeded viewership expectations, especially among the younger demographics which Josh has been tasked with engaging.
Richards appears weekly as the co-host of BFFs Podcast, one of the top-performing podcasts in the country, which he co-hosts with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and influencer Brianna Chickenfry. The podcast debuted in 2020 at the top of Apple’s podcast charts and continues its success both in the audio and video formats, with each episode garnering hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube in addition to its widespread listenership on audio streaming platforms.
Beyond entertainment, Richards has rapidly established himself as a leader in business. Referred to by Forbes as a “business mogul”, Richards currently serves as operating partner of $15 million fund “Animal Capital”, as co-founder of lifestyle beverage Ani Energy, and as investor, creative advisor, etc., to the dozens of other ventures he’s involved in. In addition to for-profit ventures, Richards is a dedicated philanthropist who has participated in a wide variety of activities, including being a part in raising over $50 million for the All In Challenge. At the start of 2021, Richards raised $200,000 in 24 hours for the Barstool Sports COVID relief fund. For his widespread success, Richards was named as an honoree of the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Josh Richards is 21 years old and currently resides in Los Angeles.