David Porteno net worth
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What is David Portnoy’s net worth and salary?
David Portnoy is an American sports media figure and Internet entrepreneur with a net worth of US$80 million. As the founder of the digital sports group Barstool Sports, Portnoy has earned his fortune. He sold part of Barstool through two transactions. He first sold a majority stake to The Chernin Group in 2016. In January 2020, Penn Gaming acquired 36% of the shares from the founders for US$163 million. 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 and obtained an education degree in 1999.
After graduating from college, he moved to Boston to work for an IT market research company called Yankee Group.
Bar chair
Dave founded Barstool Sports in 2003 as a printed publication for the Boston Metropolitan Area. The newspaper provides fantasy sports forecasts, game advertisements and sports reports. The website was launched in 2007. In the next 10 years, Barstool will grow into an unlikely sports media giant. In the early days of the site, it was known that Portnoy often worked more than 10 hours a day, while still working on Saturdays and Sundays.
On the website, Dave’s title is “El Presidente” or “Stool Presidente”. The site is a mix of harsh sports reports and charming women. The brand is described as a hybrid of “ESPN and Girls Gone Wild”. This combination obviously works well because BarstoolSports is one of the most popular sports sites on the Internet today.
In 2017, Portnoy launched a series of pizza reviews called “One Bite with Davey Pageviews”. The unofficial goal of the show is to review every pizzeria in Manhattan.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Chenin acquisition
In January 2016, it was reported that a majority stake in Barstool had been acquired by Peter Chernin’s The Chernin Group for a price of USD 100,000 to USD 15 million. By 2018, Chernin had invested US$20-25 million to increase his stake to 60%. Portnoy still controls 100% of the company’s content, which ultimately includes podcasts, gambling content, merchandise, alcohol brands, TV shows, etc.
Penn National Acquisition
In January 2020, Penn National Gaming acquired a 36% stake in Barstool Sports at a valuation of US$450 million. The total cash of the initial transaction was US$163 million. Penn National has the ability to pay an additional $62 million in three years to bring its shareholding ratio to 50%. After the initial transaction, the 60% stake in Chernin Group has been reduced to 36%, matching Penn National’s stake. The remaining 28% of the shares are still held by several key executives including Portnoy and CEO Erika Nardini.
Within a few days after the announcement, the stock price soared to a record high of $38. Unfortunately, after the global coronavirus outbreak, the stocks of the University of Pennsylvania plummeted. By March 17, the stock had fallen to $7 per share. This is 81% lower than the peak value.
By May 10, it had rebounded to around $20 per share. By August, it had more than doubled, reaching about $50 per share. By January 2021, it had risen to more than $100 per share.
Holdings
According to Penn Gaming’s 10-Q SEC filing for the first quarter of 2020, of the US$163 million in cash, approximately US$23 million was provided as convertible preferred stock and US$3 million was set aside as a “forward arrangement”. The convertible shares can eventually be converted into approximately 0.5% of Penn Gaming’s market value or 883,000 shares of Penn Gaming.
At the time of writing, Penn Gaming has a market value of $10 billion. Therefore, at this level, 0.5% of the shares are worth $50 million. According to reports, Dave owns one-third of the shares, which is approximately $16 million at today’s level. Adding his remaining approximately $90 million in shares in Barstool and wealth from previous transactions, we estimate that Dave Portnoy’s net worth is $100 million.
Bar Stool Fund
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave donated US$500,000 to the Barstool Fund, which aims to help small businesses affected by the crisis. Over time, the fund raised $39 million, which was distributed to nearly 350 small businesses.
personal life
Portnoy married Renee Satherthwaite from 2009 to 2017.
