David Portnoy’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

Net Worth: $100 Million
Date of Birth: Mar 22, 1977 (45 years old)
Gender: Male
Profession: Businessperson
Nationality: United States of America

What is David Portnoy’s net worth and salary?

David Portnoy is an American sports media figure and internet entrepreneur who has a net worth of $100 million. Portnoy has earned his fortune as the founder of digital sports powerhouse, Barstool Sports.

David has sold portions of Barstool over several transactions, ending with a final transaction in August 2022.

He first sold a majority stake in 2016 to The Chernin Group. In January 2020, Penn Gaming acquired a 36% stake from the founders for $163 million. This purchase came with an option to buy the entire company at a future date. In August 2022, Penn Gaming exercised that option to buy Barstool outright at a valuation of $390 million. From start to finish, Penn Gaming paid $550 million to buy all of Barstool. More on these transactions, and their impact on Portnoy’s wealth, later in this article.

Early Life

David Portnoy was born on March 22, 1977 in Swampscott, Massachusetts. After graduating from Swampscott High School he went on to the University of Michigan where he graduated in 1999 with a degree in education.

After college he moved to Boston where he worked for an IT market research company called Yankee Group.

Barstool

Dave founded Barstool Sports in 2003 as a print publication for the Boston metro area. The paper offered fantasy sports predictions, gaming ads and sports coverage. The website was launched in 2007. Over the next 10 years, Barstool would grow into an unlikely sports media powerhouse. In the site’s early days Portnoy was known to regularly put in 10+ hour days, while still working on both Saturdays and Sundays.

On the site Dave goes by the title “El Presidente” or “Stool Presidente”. The site is a mix of snarky sports coverage and attractive women. The brand has been described as a mixture between “ESPN and Girls Gone Wild.” This combination is apparently working well, as BarstoolSports is one of the most popular sports sites  on the internet today.

In 2017 Portnoy launched a pizza review series called “One Bite with Davey Pageviews”. The unofficial goal of the show is to review every pizza place in Manhattan.

Chernin Acquisition

In January 2016, it was reported a majority stake in Barstool had been acquired by Peter Chernin’s The Chernin Group for $10 – $15 million. By 2018, Chernin had invested $20 – 25 million to increase his stake to 60%. Portnoy remained 100% in control of the company’s content which eventually included podcasts, gambling content, merchandise, alcohol brands, TV shows and more.

Penn National Acquisition #1

In January 2020, Penn National Gaming acquired a 36% stake in Barstool Sports at a valuation of $450 million. The total amount of cash transacted initially was $163 million. Penn National also purchased the option to pay an additional $62 million within three years to bring its stake up to 50%.

Immediately after this initial deal closed, The Chernin Group’s 60% stake was reduced to 36%, matching Penn National’s stake. The remaining 28% was still owned by Portnoy and a few key executives like CEO Erika Nardini.

Penn Gaming Stock

In the days immediately after the announcement shares of Penn Gaming surged to what was then an all-time high of $38. In the wake of the worldwide Coronavirus outbreak, Penn’s stock plummeted. By March 17, the stock had slid to $7 a share, an 81% drop from the peak.

By May 10, it had risen back up to around $20 a share. By August it had more than doubled to around $50 a share. By January 2021, it had risen to over $100 a share. The stock hit $130 in March of 2021.

Portnoy’s Stock Holdings

According to a Penn Gaming Q1 2020 10-Q SEC filing, of the $163 million in cash, roughly $23 million was given as convertible preferred stock and $3 million was set aside as “forward arrangements”. The convertible stock could ultimately be converted into approximately 0.50% of Penn Gaming’s market cap OR 883,000 shares of Penn Gaming.

When Penn Gaming’s market cap was $10 billion, a 0.50% stake was worth $50 million. Dave reportedly owned 1/3 of that stake which – at the $10 billion valuation example – worked out to around $16 million. When combined with his remaining roughly $90 million stake in Barstool, and wealth from previous transactions, we estimate Dave Portnoy’s net worth at $100 million.

Penn National Acquisition #2

At some point Penn subsequently acquired an additional 14% of Barstool to give it 50% ownership. Then, on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, an SEC filing revealed that Penn Gaming had exercised its right to buy the remaining portion of Barstool. Over two steps outlined in this second transaction, Penn will ultimately pay $387 million to acquire the 50% of Barstool it did not previously own.

The Barstool Fund

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave donated $500,000 to the Barstool Fund which was launched to help small businesses impacted by the crisis. Over time the fund raised $39 million which was distributed to nearly 350 small businesses.

Personal Life

Portnoy was married to Renee Satherthwaite from 2009 to 2017.

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