Paul David Pope was born in New York and raised in Florida's Palm Beach County, where he attended Pope John Paul Catholic High School. He then attended the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts in London, where he studied acting and singing. Groomed by his father to run the National Enquirer, he worked in the paper's distribution, editorial, and business departments, learning the ropes from the bottom up. Following Gene’s death in 1988, when Paul was not named publisher of the Enquirer, and the paper went up for sale, he mounted a bid to acquire it that fell just short. Soon after, he embarked on the writing The Deeds of My Fathers.
Pope has also formed his own company, Pope Entertainment Group. He was an associate producer of the Broadway musical Rent and produced the critically acclaimed motion picture Manny & Lo. He sponsored the U.S. premiere of Quentin Tarantino's Curdled for the benefit of the Film Society of Miami.