- Source of Wealth: Copy Chain
- Age: 72
- Birth Place: Los Angeles, California
- Marital Status: Married to Natalie
- Full Name: Paul Orfalea
- Nationality: United States
- Date of Birth: November 28, 1947
- Occupation: Founder of Kinko
- Education: University of Southern California
- Children: Mason and Keenan
Paul Orfalea is the founder of the copy-chain Kinko’s and he has an estimated net worth of $250 million. While attending the University of Southern California, he began his own business with a $5,000 bank loan co-signed by his parents. He founded Kinko’s in 1970 which was named after his nickname “Kinko” because of his curly hair. In 2004, the company was acquired by Federal Express. He was no longer involved in its business management and the firm does business under the name of FedEx Office.
Mr. Orfalea is widely renowned for his entrepreneurial success. He helped grow a single copy shop into the industry leader with 1,200 branches nationwide and more than 23,000 employees. Much of his success can be traced back to his unique business philosophy which was based on his freethinking and creative style.
Paul is also an author. He wrote Copy This! Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea into one of America’s Best Companies, Two Billion Dollars in Nickels : Reflections on the Entrepreneurial Life. 2008 and The Entrepreneurial Investor: The Art, Science, and Business of Value Investing.
As a philanthropist, Mr. Orfalea established the Orfalea Family Foundation in 2000. It deals with differences in learning, care in early life stages, knowledge-giving programs that span the needs of multiple generations, and training for care giving.
Currently, Paul Orfalea is a visiting professor in the Global and International Studies Department of the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB) and at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business.