Clive Rich

Clive Daniel Rich (born 26 April 1960) is a British professional negotiator and media lawyer. He is also an author of the book "The Yes Book".

Background and early career
Clive Rich is a barrister and was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford and the Inns of Court School of Law.

He was Senior Vice President of the Futures Division at Sony BMG, which was involved in the development of Simon Cowell’s Syco TV Joint venture with Sony BMG. He also ran legal and business affairs departments for BMG in the UK and Europe between 1989 and 2004, and was Chairman of the British music industry group Phonographic Performance Limited.

Rich's clients have included Simon Cowell, Sony, MySpace and the Royal Opera House. While at Sony BMG, Rich was responsible on Syco’s behalf for the agreements with Fremantle Media and ITV to produce and broadcast The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.

2008 - 2011
Clive Rich is the owner of Rich Futures, providing legal and business affairs services to media and technology clients.

In 2010, he launched "Close My Deal", a negotiating skills iPhone application for entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses.

Rich has appeared on Radio 5 Live on both the On The Money business show and the "Gabby Logan Show”. He has also been a guest on Radio 4's Today show.

2012 – present
In July 2012, Rich launched an updated version of "Close My Deal" as a web application.

In October 2012, Rich had research published by YouGov. The research showed that UK firms were losing up to £17bn a year due to antiquated negotiation skills.

On 6 December 2012, Rich launched online legal service provider "LawBit" promising to ‘make contracts simple for small businesses’. The platform allows users to browse, download, edit and share a selection of easily understandable legal precedents, as well as offering legal advice from a qualified team of lawyers. In May 2013, LawBit raised £360,000 via crowdfunding platform CrowdCube.

Rich’s book, "The Yes Book – The Art of Better Negotiation", was published on 28 March 2013. The book claims to provide a method for generating success in deal-making based on his experience.