How David Portnoy built his business on a passion for sport
David Portnoy is an American blogger with an audience of millions who created a sports platform. He is considered a controversial and scandalous personality, yet he has managed to make a huge fortune in the stock market.
David was born in 1977 in Massachusetts. His passion for sports led him to enroll at the University of Michigan, considered one of the best sports schools in the United States.
Despite his teacher training, Portnoy decided to take a different path after university. He got a job at a company specializing in analytical research in the IT sector. After working for four years, David founded Barstool Sports magazine, where he wrote about sports events and betting. In 2007, the publication moved from a print version to an online format. The portal quickly gained popularity primarily due to David’s charisma and humor. However, Portnoy’s ironic style backfired, and in 2011, the blogger was sued for publishing a photo of the famous athlete’s son.
David’s statements have regularly been criticized for their offensive tone, sexism, and racism, but this has had no effect on his multi-million audience.
In 2014, Portnoy launched the streaming service Barstool with AOL, and two years later, The Chernin Company took a 51% stake in the service. David remained at the helm of the portal.
In 2017, Tailor launched a show where he tasted pizza at various establishments. This program was a huge success, affecting David’s overall business fortunes. Already in 2018, the Barstool service was valued at US$100 million. However, scandals continued to haunt Portnoy, and a year later, proceedings began on complaints from his employees. Employees alleged that the businessman threatened to fire them if they decided to join a union. In his defense, David said it was a joke taken too seriously.
In 2020, Portnoy sold a 36% stake in Barstool to the casino and racetrack operator. A few months later, the resource launched a betting app. During the pandemic, all sporting events stopped, meaning Dave stopped making money from betting. He then entered the stock exchange and broadcast his trading activities online. The blog’s audience grew, and people enjoyed watching Portnoy make and spend money on the exchange. However, professional traders criticized the new project, accusing David of broadcasting the wrong approach to activity to users, based not on analysis and knowledge but on gambling and fun. Despite Wall Street’s displeasure, Portnoy’s strategy has yielded excellent results and made the blogger a million-dollar fortune.
