Portnoy at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019 | |
| Born | March 22, 1977 (age 44) |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Michigan (BS) |
| Employer | Barstool Sports (2003–present) |
| Spouse(s) | (m. 2009; separated 2017) |
| Website | www.barstoolsports.com |
The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co. The Case And The Dip - Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co. 4/7/21 10:00 AM. Guy Fieri And Myself Are Hosting A Barstool Fund Auction This Friday With Celebrity Lots Featuring Me, Matt Damon, George Clooney, And More.
- A judge dismissed actor and podcast comedian Michael Rapaport's defamation lawsuit against Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, striking down part of a suit that centered around a clown-faced.
- The latest tweets from @ReneePortnoy.
- — Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) March 17, 2021 Portnoy told Shapiro in an interview airing Sunday, April 25, that he’s willing to debate with anyone — even in front of a crowd — but that he’s not willing to just stand around and take it when critics come at him first.
- On April 6, 2021, Twitter went into a frenzy after a private video of Dave Portnoy and Sydney Raines leaked and went viral on Twitter and Reddit. Several users on Twitter reacted to Dave’s leaked video. Rather than brushing it off, Dave decided to address the video.
David Scott Portnoy (born March 22, 1977) is an American internet celebrity, blogger, and founder of the sports and pop culture blog Barstool Sports.
Early life
Born to Jewish parents Michael and Linda (néeKaufman),[1][2] Portnoy grew up in Swampscott, Massachusetts, where he attended Swampscott High School. One of his classmates was ESPN's Todd McShay.[3] Portnoy began attending the University of Michigan in 1995, graduating with a degree in education.[4]
Career
Following graduation in 1999, Portnoy moved to Boston and began working at Yankee Group, an IT market research firm.[5]
Barstool Sports
After four years, Portnoy left the Yankee Group to begin what would eventually become Barstool Sports.[6]Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group purchased a majority stake of Barstool on January 7, 2016 and it was announced that the headquarters would move to New York City. In 2020, Penn National Gaming purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports from the founders for $163 million, including $135 million in cash and $28 million in Penn non-voting convertible preferred stock. Following the sale, The Chernin Group maintains a 36% stake in the company, while Portnoy continues to run the site and retains creative control over content.[7][8]
Persona
On the site, Portnoy gradually cultivated his persona as 'El Presidente', a blunt and candid character.[9] His writing was well-received among young men and the publication subsequently became a mainstay of bro culture.[9] He became known for his unapologetic and brash attitude,[9] and has faced criticism over blog posts and disparaging comments towards women and others.[10][11][12]
Arrests
Portnoy has twice been detained in NFL-related incidents: first on May 12, 2015, when he was arrested by New York City police after he and three Barstool employees handcuffed one another on the floor of NFL headquarters to protest Deflategate,[13] and again in 2019 when he was placed in a holding cell at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a portion of Super Bowl LIII. In the latter incident, he had created fake passes to attend a press event the day prior and was prohibited from attending the game.[14][15]
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.[16] While many videos include only Portnoy, celebrities and athletes often also appear as guests.[17]
Labor investigation
The National Labor Relations Board investigated Portnoy in 2019 for posts on Twitter on charges that he illegally threatened to fire his workers if they unionized.[18] That December, Portnoy reached an informal settlement with the Board, which required him to delete his threatening tweets and remove any potential anti-union material created by Barstool Sports. The settlement also noted that the Twitter account originally encouraging employees to unionize was actually owned by Barstool in an attempt to out labor organizers.[19]
Mayoral bid
In 2013, Portnoy launched an unsuccessful campaign to become the Mayor of Boston following the retirement of Thomas Menino.[20] After raising over $17,000 in campaign contributions, he failed to submit enough nomination signatures to qualify for the election.[21] During the race, Portnoy identified as a Libertarian.[22]
Personal life
Portnoy is Jewish.[23] He married Renee Satherthwaite in 2009, and the two separated in January 2017.[24] In 2020 Portnoy donated $500,000 to The Barstool Fund, a relief effort for small business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic modelled after a similar effort by Pete Snyder.[25][26] The campaign raised about $30 million for 167 businesses.[27]
See also
References
- ^Milton G. Kaufman - Obituary legacy.com
- ^OBITUARY - FLORA G KAUFMAN dignitymemorial.com
- ^'Former Swampscott Baseball Player Calichman Named Big Blue Head Coach'. Wicked Local. March 20, 2013.
- ^'Timothy Burroughs: The President of Bros'. The Michigan Daily. November 20, 2013.
- ^'The Man Behind the 'Bible of Bro Culture''. msnbc.com. December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ^'Barstool Biographies: Becoming El Pres Pt. 2'. Barstool Sports. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ^Primack, Dan (January 8, 2016). 'The Story of How Barstool Sports Got Sold'. Fortune.
- ^Palmeri, Christopher; Shaw, Lucas (January 29, 2020). 'Barstool Sports to Sell 36% Stake to Penn National Gaming'. Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ abc'The Man Behind the 'Bible of Bro Culture''. msnbc.com. December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ^Bogage, Jacob. 'Barstool Sports founder says 20-year-old employee will be too ugly for camera in five years'. Washington Post. ISSN0190-8286. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^Moses, Lucia. ''It's just not fair': Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy defends his site against accusations of toxicity and misogyny'. Business Insider. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^Moses, Lucia. ''It's just not fair': Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy defends his site against accusations of toxicity and misogyny'. Business Insider. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- ^DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (May 12, 2015). 'Barstool Sports employees arrested during sit-in at NFL offices'. Boston.com.
- ^'Barstool Sports Stars Banned from Super Bowl Over Fake Press Passes'. TMZ. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^Prussman, Todd (February 4, 2019). 'Video: Barstool Sports honcho David Portnoy hauled out of Super Bowl'. Boston Herald. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^McCormick, Luke (February 9, 2018). 'Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy Has Eaten Pizza Daily for Two Years'. Men's Journal. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ^Qualey, Erin (June 13, 2018). 'The cast of Tag Movie goes hilariously unnoticed by fan during YouTube pizza review'. Hidden Remote. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ^Porter, Jon (January 22, 2020). 'Barstool Sports founder forced to delete tweet threatening to fire union supporters 'on the spot''. The Verge. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^McNamara, Audrey. 'Barstool Sports co-founder David Portnoy settles over anti-union tweets'. CBS News. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^'Barstool Sports Founder in Mayors Race'. NECN. February 27, 2014.
- ^'Boston to face crowded ballot'. The Boston Globe. June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- ^'Barstool Sports Founder in Mayors Race'. NECN. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^'Say Hello to the Internet's Biggest Jewish Stars'. Forward. July 6, 2015.
- ^'El Pres State of the Union'. Barstool Sports. January 24, 2017.
- ^'Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy kickstarts fundraiser for small businesses affected by COVID-19'. www.phillyvoice.com. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^'Love Him Or Hate Him, Dave Portnoy Is Saving American Small Business With The Barstool Fund'. SportsHandle. January 6, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^Conklin, Audrey (December 23, 2020). 'Barstool's Dave Portnoy raises nearly $30M for 167 small businesses — and counting'. FOXBusiness. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
External links
- David Portnoy on Twitter
- David Portnoy at IMDb
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has deemed himself a leader of the small investor revolution, but the title doesn’t fit.
- Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has deemed himself a leader of the small investor revolution. The title doesn’t fit.
- A mysterious June 10 trade may have led to Portnoy’s ban from E*TRADE.
With live sports entertainment in the US on hold for now, Dave “El Prez” Portnoy of Barstool Sports has been scratching his gambling itch with good old fashioned securities speculation. In the same scornful tones Portnoy usually reserves for the opponents of his beloved Michigan Wolverines, he has spent the last few weeks taking on his perceived rivals in day trading, including Wall Street overlords like Warren Buffet and even the major trading platforms themselves.
Portnoy - now calling himself Davey Day Trader - has been live-streaming his trading sessions over the last few weeks, waxing poetic about his status as leader of a fearless crew of amateur investors. Until recent events, Portnoy’s platform of choice was E*TRADE ($ETFC). The company’s Twitter traffic has consistently risen since quarantine began (with 4,300 new followers since the beginning of 2020), matching a big recovery in its stock price. These figures are indicative of the current “day-trading revolution”, buoyed by idle quarantiners with time and money to burn.
On his streams, Portnoy alternates between winning and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money, sometimes dozens of times over the course of just a few hours. For the discerning Thinknum reader, I’ve compiled some recent highlights from the Davey Day Trader Saga, with commentary.
The Free-Thinking Free Agent
Most recently, we have El Prez’s falling out with E*TRADE. Portnoy announced on June 25 that he had been kicked from the platform. E*TRADE has yet to put out a statement, leaving the reasoning of the ban up for debate.
Portnoy’s theory is that he was banned when he called out E*TRADE for a server glitch that lost him a few thousand dollars. In his own estimation, his powerful voice was just too dangerous for the platform.
E*Trade couldn’t handle the pressure of #DDTG. They’ve officially kicked me off and I’m now a trading platform free agent. pic.twitter.com/ovgMtnpzAq
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 25, 2020Some Twitter users and analysts quickly put forward a competing theory. Twitter user Matt Kirchner (@LIGBeyond) replied, 'They kicked you off for front loading (sic) penny stocks dummy.'
This next tweet references Portnoy’s stock performance on June 10, when he made a killing off of an obscure US-listed Israeli medical company called InspireMD. In a very confident and not-at-all stilted explanation, Portnoy says he got the stock tip on a date, and put $400,000 down on a barely-touched nanocap just to impress the lucky woman.
I expect rocket ship stock tips on all dates I go on now. #ddtg$NSPRpic.twitter.com/MmatsFbDqL
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 10, 2020The ethics of broadcasting that tip on his show, in the minutes after the market opened and several more instances from there, are hard to pin down. After Portnoy told his audience he sold out of InspireMD for a cool $100K on Wednesday at the closing bell, the company’s stock plunged Thursday morning. Jamie Powell from FT Alphaville responded with a largely overlooked June 12 article that treated Portnoy’s position with some wariness.
Dave Portnoy Twitter Video
it turns out #ddtg isn't just buying Delta, Carnival and Alibaba but also...<checks notes>...a US-listed Israeli nanocap that he heard about on a date. apparently. https://t.co/fCDsvXhJGZ
— Jamie Powell (@ajb_powell) June 12, 2020
Frat Boy Braveheart
El Prez’s overarching concern is that we don’t let “The Suits” win. The Suits are the stock analyst dinosaurs that have traditionally benefited from day trading, and have an interest in normal people like YOU failing at it.
The suits came to play, I’ll give them that. I’ve made and lost $100k a dozen times already today.pic.twitter.com/vqHCaJqA8f
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 29, 2020In this next tweet, Portnoy has found a decent wedge issue to push. Warren Buffet and others have recently warned small investors to stay out of the current market, even asAmerican billionaires have gotten $434 billion richer during the pandemic. This reality, combined with condescending network news coverage and out-of-touch, scolding op-edslike this one from FOX, has just made it easier for Portnoy to style himself as a rebel in finance.
The public shouldn’t be trading in the market? Do these idiots realize what they’re saying? Who do you think you are?#DDTGpic.twitter.com/wFuFFLxtcu
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 26, 2020Here he is as William Wallace, taking on the hoards of Wall Street overlords, represented by... charts.
HOLD. HOLD. HOLD.#DDTGpic.twitter.com/LFoHuaVGwc
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 24, 2020The populist message is respectable at face value, but we really need to consider the messenger. Anyone who has followed his pre-trading career knows that Portnoy is anything but the everyman he is claiming to be. Rather, he is an infamously vengeful, exacting boss who hasthreatened Barstool employees who stuck up for themselvesat work,andmocked others in his industry for losing their jobs.
Who Is Dave Portnoy
Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy gloats as rival Deadspin suffers mass exodus, offers fired editor ‘butler’ position | Fox Newshttps://t.co/fib8ZczIF3
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)October 31, 2019All his bluster elides the fact that he is just as much a Suit as any finance kingpin - even in a Barstool-brand golf visor and a Patriots jersey.
The nature of Portnoy’s E*TRADE ban is still unknown. Thinknum has reached out to E*TRADE for comment and will update this story with the response.
We're eagerly waiting to hear about Portnoy’s next game-changing move, whether it's onto a new trading platform, or back to sports betting when the big leagues return in Fall.
Dave Portnoy Twitter Blues
About the Data:
Dave Portnoy Twitter Rant
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online, jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings, and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.