David Portnoy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Portnoy
Portnoy at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019
Born	David Scott Portnoy (1977-03-22) March 22, 1977 (age 47)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Years active	2003–present
Employer	Barstool Sports
Spouse(s)	Renee Portnoy ​ (separated 2017)​

David Scott Portnoy (born March 22, 1977) is an American businessman and social media personality. Self-styled as "El Presidente", Portnoy is the founder and owner of sports and popular culture company Barstool Sports.

Early life

Portnoy grew up in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He is Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah.

He attended Swampscott High School and one of his high school classmates was ESPN's Todd McShay. He began attending the University of Michigan in 1995, graduating with a degree in education.

Career

Barstool Sports

After university, Portnoy moved to Boston and began working at Yankee Group, an IT market research firm. In 2004, Portnoy left the Yankee Group and founded Barstool Sports. The early iteration of Barstool was a four-page sports newspaper that Portnoy handed out on subway platforms and street corners in Boston. The paper was meant to appeal to young men and rejected political correctness. Early advertisers in the newspaper included offshore betting websites such as partypoker, which was operating in the United States illegally. The contents of the newspaper was originally solely written by Portnoy, but freelance writers, including Todd McShay, joined the paper. At first, the paper struggled, but gained traction in 2004 when Portnoy began placing photos of women in bikinis on the front page of the newspaper. In 2007, Barstool expanded to a blog.

Portnoy gradually cultivated his persona as "El Presidente", a blunt and candid character. His writing was well-received among young men and the publication subsequently became a mainstay of bro culture. He became known for his unapologetic and brash attitude.

Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group purchased a majority stake of Barstool in January 2016. In 2020, Penn Entertainment purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $163 million, including $135 million in cash and $28 million in Penn non-voting convertible preferred stock. Penn acquired the remainder of the company in February 2023 for $388 million. Portnoy re-purchased Barstool in August 2023 for one dollar, non-compete agreements in the gambling space, and a clause that if Barstool were to be sold again Penn Entertainment would take 50%.

Pizza reviews

One Bite with Davey Pageviews is an internet show that Portnoy created, which consists of him reviewing pizza. Portnoy began his goal of reviewing every pizza place in Manhattan in 2017. While many videos include only Portnoy, celebrities and athletes often also appear as guests.

Politics

Portnoy identifies as "socially liberal" and "fiscally conservative." Portnoy opposed COVID-19 lockdowns saying "When did this become...'flatten the curve' to 'we have to find a cure or everyone's going to die?'" ..... However, in 2022, he said it is "dangerous" to vote for Republicans because they will appoint Justices who are too conservative to the Supreme Court.

Portnoy criticized the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Portnoy said: "To me, this is just pure insanity, pure insanity. We are going backwards in time. We are literally going backwards in time! It makes no sense how anybody thinks it’s their right to tell a woman what to do with her body."

2013 Boston mayoral campaign

In 2013, Portnoy launched an unsuccessful campaign to become the mayor of Boston following the retirement of mayor Thomas Menino. During the race, Portnoy identified as a libertarian. After raising more than $17,000 in campaign contributions, he failed to submit enough nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Personal life

In January 2017, Portnoy separated from his wife Renee. From March 2021 to November 2023, Portnoy dated model Silvana Mojica. In 2019, Portnoy claimed that his net worth was around $100 million.

In 2020, Portnoy donated $500,000 of his own money to The Barstool Fund, a relief effort for small business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through May 2021, the campaign raised over $39 million for 348 businesses.

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