| Full Name | David Scott Portnoy |
|---|---|
| Net Worth | $120 million |
| Date of Birth | March 22, 1977 |
| Place of Birth | Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA |
| Education | University of Michigan (1995-1999), Swampscott High School |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Internet personality, podcast host, sports media figure |
| Known For | Founder of Barstool Sports, One Bite pizza reviews, “El Presidente” moniker |
| Notable Projects and Ventures | Barstool Sports, One Bite app, Barstool Fund, Barstool Sportsbook, The Dave Portnoy Show, The Kirk Minihane Show, The Barstool Sports Advisors |
| Social Media Profiles | Twitter: @stoolpresidente, Instagram: @stoolpresidente, Facebook: Dave Portnoy |
Have you ever wondered what Dave Portnoy’s net worth is? Well, the influencer, take-out pizza reviewer, and el Presidente of Barstool Sports has built up quite the resume.
You likely have seen “Davey Pageviews” on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or any other social media platform, as he has millions of followers on each platform.
Although he has a massive following on social media and is by all metrics a celebrity, his claim to fame is founding Barstool. He is the founder and majority share owner of Barstool.
As of May 2023, Dave Portnoy has a net worth of $120 million. This post shows you how Portnoy built his company from the ground up and how you can do the same.
Table of Contents
Early Life
David Portnoy was born on March 22, 1977, in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He attended Swampscott High School.
Growing up, he fell in love with sports at a young age and played baseball and football.
Although Portnoy wouldn’t play sports in college, that didn’t stop him from attending one of the most prominent sports colleges in the country, the University of Michigan.
He went to the University of Michigan in 1995 and got a degree in education.
After graduation, he went on to work at Yankee Group, which was a technology research firm in Boston.
He worked there for four years before leaving and starting Barstool.
Founding Barstool Sports
Dave Portnoy started Barstool when he noticed nothing in the market for sports coverage and analysis to help him with sports betting.
It was 2003, and the internet was not the powerhouse it is today, so Portnoy decided to make a local Boston Newspaper that would offer fantasy sports bets.
He started by recruiting his childhood friends to help him write articles. He and all his friends would write under pseudonyms to make the magazine look like a huge publication with multiple writers.
When Portnoy wasn’t writing articles, he pitched advertisement spots to local bars and gambling companies to monetize his magazine. The early days were rough, and it took Barstool a while before they started gaining traction.
However, he saw a big break for the company in 2007 when he decided to bring Barstool online. Their traffic started to pick up, and they began getting national press coverage in the years to come.
Now the unlikely sports media powerhouse gets around 1 million visitors every month!
Barstool Investments
Portnoy didn’t seek any outside investment until January 2016, when he sold a majority stake of 51% to The Chernin Group for around 10-15 million dollars.
The company had been growing rapidly and was looking for an investor to help take it into its next development phase. Chernin Group was the perfect partner.
Not only did they have the financial resources to help Barstool Sports grow, but they also had the experience and know-how to help the company expand its reach.
Penn National Gaming
Penn is a gaming company that operates casinos in the United States. The Company’s segments include Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana.
It owns or operates 18 facilities with approximately 8,400 slot machines; three racetracks with approximately 1,500 video lottery terminals (VLTs); five off-track betting locations with over 3,000 VLTs; seven casino hotels; two restaurants; one lounge theater; and ten food and beverage outlets.
Penn also owns or has an interest in six other properties located throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia under various ownership structures, including joint ventures (35%), limited partnerships (7%), and fee simple absolute (58%).
On October 16, 2017, the Company announced that it partnered with Barstool to launch a new digital media platform devoted to casino gaming and lifestyle.
The partnership included content creation, marketing, and advertising initiatives across Penn’s casino properties.
The investment was a huge move for both companies, giving Barstool a massive audience of casino-goers to market its content to.
It also gave Penn access to Barstool’s unique brand of humor and irreverence.
Penn National Gaming acquired a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for around 163 million dollars.
When Penn Gaming acquired the site, Barstool Sports had a valuation of $450 million. The remaining percentage of the company is owned by Portnoy and a few other executives at the firm.
Penn Acquires Barstool
In August 2022, Penn took full control of Barstool.
Penn said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it would exercise its call rights to purchase the remaining Barstool shares by February 2023.
Penn Entertainment bought a 36% stake in Barstool for $163 million in 2020. If it buys the rest of the company in two steps, it will spend a total of $387 million.
Barstool Sportsbook, which the company claims is assisting it in reaching a younger demographic, has been a priority for Penn.
In February 2021, Penn revealed that the platform’s launch in Pennsylvania in September 2020 had registered over 72,000 customers and generated a total handle of nearly $300 million.
Day Trading
After achieving a nine-figure net worth, Portnoy has since entered the world of Day Trading. On March 23, 2020, Portnoy proclaimed that he would become a full-time day trader and live to stream his day trading on Twitter for the duration of the quarantine.
Did Portnoy know what he was doing? Not at all, as he said during his press release, “to be very clear, I have zero clue what I’m doing.”
Portnoy started day trading with $3,000,000 in his account, and by the end of his first week, Portnoy was down about $200,000. On April 17, Portnoy told Business Insider that his losses had increased to about $740,000.
All in all, Portnoy’s day trading won’t seriously impact his net worth.
However, it is a good source of entertainment for him and a way for him to do an activity that would bring him closer to his followers.
Dave Portnoy Net Worth Growth
| Year | Net Worth | Contributing Factors |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $10,000 | Starting Barstool Sports |
| 2011 | $50,000 | Increased popularity of Barstool Sports |
| 2012 | $100,000 | Launch of BarstoolU |
| 2013 | $500,000 | Expansion of Barstool Sports |
| 2014 | $1 million | Partnership with Chernin Group |
| 2015 | $5 million | Acquisition of Barstool Sports by Chernin Group |
| 2016 | $10 million | Continued growth of Barstool Sports |
| 2017 | $25 million | Increased revenue from merchandise sales and events |
| 2018 | $60 million | Expansion of Barstool Sports media content |
| 2019 | $90 million | Launch of Barstool Sportsbook and continued growth of media content |
| 2020 | $120 million | Barstool Sportsbook’s success during the pandemic |
| 2021 | $150 million | Continued growth of Barstool Sports and successful investment ventures |
| 2022 | $100 million | N/A (current year) |
Dave Portnoy Net Worth 2023
As of May 2023, David Portnoy’s net worth is $100 million. His wealth primarily comes from his equity in the pop culture blog Barstool Sports.
Although he is no longer the CEO of Barstool Sports, he still serves as Chief of Content, overseeing everything from podcasts, videos, and merchandise.
In addition to being one of the most popular sports websites on the Internet, the company has also launched TV shows on Comedy Central and ESPN2.
In fact, they have even published books! Barstool Sports is more than just an online publication—it’s become a media empire with tentacles all over North America. And now that it has partnered with Chernin Group, its future is brighter than ever before.
Real Estate David Portnoy
In addition to his stake in Barstool Sports, Portnoy’s net worth includes several million dollars worth of real estate.
Portnoy owns a $5 million penthouse in Boston, which he purchased in 2017. The 3,700-square-foot apartment has three bedrooms and four bathrooms.
He also has a $2.5 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, which he bought in 2019.
The 8,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
In addition to his primary residences, Portnoy also owns several investment properties around the country.
These include a $1.8 million condo in Miami Beach, Florida, and a $2 million loft in New York City.
In total, Portnoy’s real estate portfolio is worth an estimated $10 million.
Barstool Fund
In 2020, Portnoy launched the “Barstool Fund”, a venture capital fund that invest in small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund has raised over $30 million from over 4,000 investors.
Some of the businesses that have received funding from the Barstool Fund include:
- Pizza Geno’s in Easton, Pennsylvania
- Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Kassoff Robert’s Deli in Maplewood, New Jersey
Portnoy has said that he plans to invest up to $1 million of his own money into the fund.
Key Takeaways
You Have to Love What You Do
In the early years of Barstool Sports, Portnoy would work 10 hours a day for the company. He did everything from writing for the magazine to try to partner with local venues.
It was not glamorous work, and he wouldn’t make any serious money from the magazine for years to come.
That is why it is so crucial that you love what you do. In the early days, you will have no fans, no money and will continuously question yourself if your business is worth pursuing.
The only thing that will get you through it is if you love what you do and can build a team of like-minded individuals around you.
Sometimes You Can Fake a Network Effect
Reddit is a prime example of this.
In Reddit’s early days, the founders would make fake accounts to comment on threads so that when other people stumbled across them, it would look like there was an engaged community of people already talking about a topic.
Barstool did something similar by having one writer write under multiple pseudonyms, making it look like Barstool was much bigger than it was.
Be Unapologetically Yourself
Portnoy has acknowledged that there is now a lot of competition among sports betting websites.
However, he says his competitive advantage is that nobody has the personalities he or his employees have.
When starting a business, you may want to copy your competitors. However, the real power is differentiating from them and providing your twist on an existing product or service.