Dave Portnoy is the founder of Barstool Sports and a man of the people. The controversial unfiltered blogger, podcast host, and businessman has been dubbed many names over the course of his meteoric rise in the industry: El Presidente, El Pres, Pres, and Davey Pageviews. He took a small print newspaper and turned into a media giant and along the way spat with anyone who came at the brand, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell many, many times.
He is responsible for bringing laughs and sports/lifestyle news to stoolies everywhere. We have Portnoy and Barstool to thank for giving up us Saturdays Are For The Boys, Viva La Stool, One Bite Everybody Knows The Rules and the Goodell Clown Face.
So, how much is the Barstool founder worth?
Net Worth as of 2018: $10 million
Portnoy has gained substantial wealth through the success of Barstool Sports. What started as handing out newspapers in the Boston Metro, turned into major media player the Chernin Group purchasing a majority stake in the company, with Portnoy remaining in control of the content produced. As of Jan. 2018 Barstool Sports is valued at over $100 million, built brick by brick and showing no signs of slowing down.
Early Life
Portnoy is a native of Swampscott, Massachusetts born on March 22, 1977. He graduated from Swampscott High School in 1995 and wasn’t the only future sports media talent at the school. ESPN’s Todd McShay was a classmate of Portnoy’s at Swampscott.
Portnoy also shined on the baseball diamond at Swampscott before succumbing to a shoulder injury. After high school, Portnoy attended the University of Michigan and received his degree in Education.
1999-2003
After college, Portnoy returned to the Boston area and began working at an IT market research firm, Yankee Group. At Yankee Group, Portnoy worked in sales, but his interests and aspirations for something larger were growing.
Portnoy began immersing himself in the world of sports gambling. Dave saw a niche market that his gambling brain could fill. He came up with the idea of presenting a publication discussing sports spreads and betting advice, effectively stealing the market from ad-filled online websites. And thus the Barstool empire was born.
2003-Present
Barstool Sports began as a free black and white newspaper that provided betting and fantasy sports advice. Portnoy first started growing the brand by handing out the newspapers at the Boston Metro. The publication sought to seek out the “common man” and the mantra “for the common man, by the common man” was born.
After years of being a print publication, Barstool launched into the internet world and became a website in 2007. The target audience is 18-34 year-olds and implemented lifestyle content to supplement its sports news. The site snowballed in popularity. What initially was just based in the Boston area began to grow to New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Portnoy brought on some of the marquee talents during this time that would eventually grow Barstool into what could be described as a cult following. Bloggers such as KFC, Big Cat, Kmarko, and Feitelberg joined, and Barstool was off and running.
In Jan. 2016 Portnoy announced in an emergency press conference that the Chernin Group would be purchasing majority stake (51%) of the company. A new CEO was introduced, Erika Nardini and calming all stoolie fears Dave remained in control of content.
The Nardini-Portnoy combo has been on a lightning-speed profitable path taking Barstool to the “moon”. Since the Chernin investment, Barstool has launched many wildly successful podcasts, a Sirius XM radio channel, became a merchandise king, and hosts the best Super Bowl pre-game party out there.
As of 2018, the company that started out as a one-man free newspaper is worth over $100 million.