Richard P. McWilliam (October 20, 1953 – January 5, 2013) was the chairman and co-founder of

Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...

, a successful and award-winning Carlsbad-based collectibles business that specializes in trading cards for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Before McWilliam was involved with the Upper Deck Company, he was a Cal State Fullerton graduate and former certified public accountant. Besides Upper Deck, McWilliam had another business, JetSource, which he was founder and CEO. JetSource was voted one of the top 40 fixed-base operations for jet-setters in America among the thousands of such airport rest stops for fuel, private hangars and other services.Jet Source Celebrates A Decade Of Success
on Airport Journals, 1 Apr 2007

Upper Deck

In 1993, McWilliam controlled Upper Deck with a 27 percent stake, and was the only original partner still active in company management.
by Richard Sandomir on ''The New York Times'', 4 Oct 1993 In May 2005, Richard McWilliam was honored at the sports collectible industry's annual trade convention in Hawaii as the industry's "most influential" person of the past 20 years. In addition to McWilliam's award, Upper Deck was also recognized for the debut of its legendary 1989 Baseball trading card set designed and produced by

Robert Young Pelton Robert Young Pelton (born July 25, 1955) is a Canadian-American author, journalist, and documentary film director. Pelton's work usually consists of conflict reporting and interviews with military and political figures in war zones. Pelton has ...

. Author Pete William's book ''Card Sharks'' covers the rise and fall of Upper Deck and McWilliam's ousting of the founders and designer who built the company from a start up to $260 million in annual sales in the first three years. McWilliam's decision to counterfeit error cards is also documented in the book. In 2010, a New York Post article detailed McWilliam's role in the scandal.Lawsuit against Upper Deck story: "Hitting the ‘deck’
by Peter Lauria on ''The New York Post'', 12 Jan 2010

Personal

McWilliam had a wife named Vivianne, and they have three children. An enthusiastic fisherman, he was a financial supporter of the trout-stocking program in Bishop, California, supporting programs at

Rady Children's Hospital Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego is the largest children's hospital in California and provides services to the San Diego, southern Riverside and Imperial counties. The hospital has 524 beds and provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and su ...

in San Diego, and programs for military veterans. McWilliam died in

Rancho Santa Fe, California Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, ...

on January 5, 2013, due to unknown causes. He had a history of heart problems, including open heart surgery in 2008.Richard McWilliam dies at 59; CEO of trading card company Upper Deck
by Tony Perry on ''Los Angeles Times'', 10 Jan 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliam, Richard 1953 births Place of birth missing 2013 deaths American chief executives American sports businesspeople California State University, Fullerton alumni Servite High School alumni 20th-century American philanthropists