Chad Richison

Richison, a graduate of Tuttle High School, holds a B.A. in Mass Communications from the University of Central Oklahoma (1989–93).

A native Oklahoman, Richison began his career in sales with ADP, a global payroll provider, before moving to Colorado to work for a smaller, regional payroll provider. In 1998, Richison and his family moved to Oklahoma and he founded Paycom.

Richison lives with his family in Edmond, Oklahoma, and is a member of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and Oklahoma Business Roundtable. As of September, Forbes estimated his net worth at U.S. $2.3 billion. Richison is one of only seven billionaires residing in Oklahoma and is the youngest Oklahoman on the list.

In November 2015, Richison made, at the time, the single-largest donation ever to his alma mater's athletic program. His $10 million gift to UCO Athletics will fund its athletic complex. In October 2017, he gave an additional $4 million gift to its 'complete the dream' campaign.

In 2015, Richison founded the Green Shoe Foundation, an organization devoted to helping functioning adults reconcile childhood traumas so they can live a life of peace and maturity. In addition to Green Shoe, Richison also created the Richison Family Foundation, which provides funding for organizations in children's education, foster care, food supplies and mental health. Their work includes support for Oklahoma's first Hope Lodge, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, public school programs, and more.

In December 2020, he announced he had joined The Giving Pledge.

In 2021, following a $10 million donation from Richison, the University of Central Oklahoma's football stadium was renamed the Chad Richison Stadium. To date, he has donated $25 million to the college.

In addition to his earlier philanthropic initiatives, Richison and his wife Charis have expanded their focus to community transformation within Oklahoma. Their gifts span the arts, education, mental health and social services. Among these is a $5 million donation to complete Oklahoma City’s American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, now bearing his name, providing free lodging to cancer patients and caregivers. During the COVID-19 pandemic they donated $1 million to support Oklahoma City Public Schools, and more recently they committed $17 million to the Green Shoe Foundation, and made multi-million dollar pledges to food banks, homeless services and school programs across the state.