Dave Portnoy GOES OFF On Bitcoin, AI, Socialism & Being Fired From Barstool

I walked out of that meeting, called Renee, my ex. I go, "I just got fired from Barcel." I couldn't believe it. And we're changing, it's changing from Barcel Sportsbook to ESPN Bet, and they did this gigantic deal. I think it was 10 years, 2 billion is what this deal ended up being. Um, and ESPN would market everything. I talked to Erica, I talked to Dan, and we all kind of regrouped. What do we want to do here?

All right guys, today we got a conversation with Dave Portnoy. He's founder of Barstool Sports, and he wrote a great book, Cancel Me If You Can. It is absolutely hilarious. Uh, in this conversation, we talk about how he almost got fired from Barstool, or he did get fired. Uh, we talk about his investments, how much money he's got, how much money he spends on a monthly basis. Talk about AI, what stocks he likes, what stocks he doesn't like, Bitcoin, is he a fan, is he not? How much does he hold? There's incredible amount of detail in here and he does it all in his own style. He just tells you the truth. It's pretty entertaining. Enjoy.

Here's my conversation with Dave Portnoy.

All right, Dave, you got a new book out. Everyone is worried about all these little anecdotes, but the craziest story to me is that Penn, the company that had bought Barstool, fired you from Barstool Sports. How's that happen?

>> Yeah. So, I I thought that would be the number one story in the book. It hasn't been so far, but essentially what happened, and I tell this story, we're in New York, and I had a great relationship with Jay Snowden. Like, we were

>> CEO of Penn.

>> Yep. CEO of Penn. Like, we we were lockstep. I trusted him totally. He trusted me. We hadn't met in a bit. Is that going to be in New York City? Can Can you meet me for lunch? Of course. Sure. And hand to God, walking into the restaurant, it's a little Italian place. No empty. I go, "This looks like where somebody would get whacked like in a mob movie." I literally said it. We to him as we're walking in. We sat in the the back table in the corner, nobody around. And he starts telling me updates like updates on the business. He's like, "We uh are doing a huge deal with ESPN." Um, which was shocking to me, but great. I didn't know in my head. I'm like, "All right, so is ESPN going to promote Barstool Sportsbook? Are we like, "What's going on?"

>> Because you guys were kind of competitive a little bit in terms of you had a sportsbook and ESPN wanted to have a sportsbook and now the company was going to essentially do a deal.

>> Yeah, ESPN was was basically a hired gun at that point. Like they could advertise. They may have been advertising DraftKings, FanDuel, whoever. They didn't have a specific company that they were advertising with. We were branded. So when you think FanDuel DraftKings, we had Barstool Sportsbook along those and we hadn't actually promoted the sportsbook in quite a while because we got this new technology overhaul. So we had waited, I think we skipped an entire football season of doing any promo. The thought being um, we once the new technology launched, we would want to put all our marketing weight in and the market share would go up. So don't promote it till we're ready. Market share lower. We promote. Boom. We got the new technology of phoning goes up. So I thought that was going to be what the meeting was about and he says we did this big deal with ESPN. I I was wow, that's that's crazy. And I asked him some questions. That's great. Is McAfee going to promote it? Is Scott Fel going to promote it? He's like, yeah, they're all in. This should be big for us. Okay, great. And then he segueed to the next point which was like the only caveat to this deal which was a done deal is ESPN said Dave Portnoy can absolutely not be part of Barstool Sports or this deal. It was stunning. I I mean, I was stunned and he continued it was I didn't get up be like, oh my god, what what are you talking about? I was taken aback and it takes a lot for me to be taken back, but I was stunned and I just kind of sat there. Is processing it and he continued and he's like, all your stock options and when we did the Penn deal, we didn't get paid out immediately. A lot of it was stock, a lot of it vested, all that was going to vest instantly.

>> How much money was it?

>> Tens of millions. It was tens of millions. So, um, I think maybe close to 30 or 40 if I'm going off memory would have I would have had to wait for I get right away, uh, and I'd be done with Barstool. Was a way out and at that time I certainly was getting a little tired of of of the

>> How much money do you think you had made from the the whole deal before this?

>> 100?

>> Uh, I think the whole deal I was making about 100 if I recall. So

>> Maybe you made 60 or 70.

>> Yeah, exactly. So, um

>> So 30 or 40 though is very material.

>> Oh, super material. Super material. Um, so he explained this all to me and I'm listening and and he goes through the deal and I'd be out of the contract. Everything's vested and I I just kind of listen to it. The deal was already done. So we leave the meeting and I did say casually like, what what if I don't want to be done? Like, what? He's like, well, this is good. You get to go on your way. He knew it wasn't like it wasn't like I'm so gung-ho in the company right now. I walked out of that meeting, called Renee, my ex. I go, "I just got fired from Barstool." I couldn't believe it. He had set up uh meetings with Erica and Dan Bigat after me. And same story. Here's what we're doing. And we're so everything's

>> Erica is the CEO of Bar

>> CEO of Barstool. Dan's our like number one guy. And we're changing. It's changing from Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN Bet. And they did this gigantic deal. I think it was 10 years, two billion is what this deal ended up being. Um, and ESPN would market everything. I talked to Erica. I talked to Dan and we all kind of regrouped and you're like, "What do we want to do here?" And they both were like, "We do not want to become ESPN employees. We don't want to work with ESPN." They wouldn't become employees, but for the lack of better words, they kind of would have. Um, also, I think we all realize, certainly I did, most of Barstool would have been fired. Like, no use for them. Like, we have our our bullpen of idiots and people been with us a long time. What are they going to do? They would have cut probably cut cost because they have this new media behemoth. So came around talked about it and it came to conclusion we we weren't going to go along with this. So I called Jay and I'm like, listen, I I cannot let ESPN fire me from my own company of 20 years at this point. This isn't going to work. They had already gone down the path. The ESPN deal was pretty much inked with the understanding I wouldn't be part of it. And uh, I I pitched him the concept to make this work for you guys to go into your new venture with ESPN and to have us be happy and no problems because it if we were like, holy cow, we just got fired. This new ESPN deal with Penn's probably dead on arrival because you don't have at that time a legal right to block the deal or to block yourself getting fired.

>> No, no, they aren't.

>> It's more of just like the power of Dave and Barstool, these people on the internet pissed at us, is going to be bad news for our company.

>> Correct. If you're going to ESPN and creating ESPN Bet with Penn and you have me in the street saying, "Hold on, ESPN just fired me from my own company of 20 years. You're going to go bet with them now?" Uh, I don't think that would have gone over that great. They don't want to go to war with you.

>> No. And I did have a great relationship with Jay. So I pitched the concept, sell me back Barstool for a dollar. That's where that mythical dollar everyone

>> That was that was your idea.

>> Yeah, that was my idea.

>> Where'd you get it from?

>> Uh, well, we couldn't do it for free because you have to do the transaction.

>> But you talked to like a lawyer.

>> Well, yeah, we had we had lawyers involved to do it, but they couldn't just give it to me. You have

>> I know. But like when you first were like, "Hey, I think I'm going to pitch him on a dollar." Did the lawyers were there like that's a great idea or were they like there's no way they're going to do?

>> There was no lawyers at that point. It was Jay and I talking like how do we make this work for everybody involved? So it was like I'll inherit all of our expenses and and there were expenses and all the payroll and everything. I'll take it over. Um

>> You got to give me the company back for a buck.

>> Uh, and I believe there was till after the Super Bowl somewhere about 6 to 12 months we couldn't compete verse them. Then after that we could go get a contract. So, that was the deal we struck and it was really to part good ways with us, Penn, let them do the thing. I signed a 10-year NDA that said I could never discuss the details of this

>> That you got fired.

>> That I got fired. That was ESPN because they don't want the blowback even now, right? Saying ESPN tried to fire Dave. Like, what the what? I can say anything.

>> Why are you talking about it now?

>> What the beauty of this? I'm finishing my book and the Penn ESPN deal falls apart.

>> It's a brand new book.

>> Brand new book and I'm writing the last chapter. I didn't know how to finish it to be honest. I knew it was the perfect ending, but it's like I can't tell it. Um, because they had an if I tell if I bash ESPN, uh, they can come after me for everything. So I knew I couldn't do it. Word comes out this the ESPN Penn deal was a total disaster. Like we weren't even promoting, we were getting better numbers than ESPN. So, the deal falls apart. The very first thing I do, I hadn't talked to Jay in forever. Hey, I just saw this deal fell apart. What do you think about me uh telling the truth about ESPN? And he gave me the green light. So, that provided the perfect ending to this book.

>> I mean, pretty good dude if he let you buy the company back for a dollar and he let you tell the story.

>> 100%. And I always got along with him. Uh, you know, and I asked him after it was all over, what because we always saw eye to eye. I'm like, and and ESPN, I don't know what went on behind their doors. I don't know why they were so I've always, I've clearly maybe not clearly, but I've had you know, headbutts and and disagreements with ESPN.

>> But is it like uh are they like a mortal enemy who deserves like a champagne bottle or is it more of just like it's healthy competition and all is fair and love and war?

>> ESPN has been the best thing that's ever happened to the history of Barstool. They've given us two gifts beyond belief. So I don't look at them as that mortal enemy. They canceled Barstool Van Talk and reunited Barstool and put our best talent back together and kind of united and they handed me the company back for a dollar. So I don't look at them like that. We have gone to war, I guess, or exchange words with certain employees of theirs like Mina Kimes works there, who I absolutely despise and think she's one of the biggest frauds of all time. Um, but why they singled out, like who knows if Barstool with ESPN could have been a successful venture. It was a interesting thing they did to put almost Penn in that corner. Like, we'll do the deal, but Dave can't be part of it. It helped us greatly. I asked Jay, I'm like, "What made you think, you know me as good as anybody at this point, what made you think I would let ESPN fire me from my own company?" And he, he, it was a fair answer. He's like, "I just thought you were done. Like you had been doing content for so long." He was with me through a lot of the worst parts of basically my life and attacks and things. And he stood by me far more than a lot of other companies would have. So he

>> I I got where he was coming from. Like, "Hey, let's try ESPN. Barstool is two steps forward, eight steps back because they get attacked by everybody in this legalized gambling world. It's very difficult." So, I got all that. And he just was like, I thought you'd be happy to get the money, go buy your place in Nantucket and disappear. If I

>> The regulators liked you or no?

>> Hated.

>> Hated you.

>> A couple states. You want to go to the deep South in Louisiana, they may like me. Massachusetts, my home state, despised me. There was like a meeting I used to watch it online, the gambling like council. There was one particular lady who was so biased against us. Another member actually had to literally stand up and be like, "I need an objection to be filed that Barstool was being treated differently than all the other companies we've interviewed" because they would go read old articles about me that aren't facts, but treat them as facts. So it was

>> I I think I say it in the book. We had a very early discussion when Penn bought us. Do we name the gambling app Barstool Sportsbook or come up with a new name?

>> And it was a discussion around table and and I argued we keep it. I'm like, we have so much equity in the name. I think it's important. Hindsight, probably would have been better off going a different name and pushing people to it because it, it, it just people have so many opinions about us and that's fine. In my world now, I don't care. Like, you say whatever you want about me and if I want to come back at you, I will. Can't do that when you're regulated by the government. Like, and that was part of the deal I made with them.

>> When we did the deal, it's like I won't attack government officials. I won't talk on politics as much as I can. Um, because we have to deal with these people. And guess what? One state may be very red where you need a license. The next may be very blue. So, you can't win unless you just keep your mouth shut.

>> I think a lot of people try to figure out how did you build this thing, right? And so, I can only talk from my personal experience interacting with you. Um, the first time I think you and I ever met was during COVID. You were doing unboxings. You were doing Davy Day Trader, you know, all this stuff.

>> You you cost me a lot of time getting ready to I had you made me have to accept Bitcoin for for the Barstool fund. No, before that, before that, uh, you just randomly DM'd me and said, "I'll come on your podcast."

>> Why? I would love to know because I didn't ask you to.

>> There had to be something tweeted at you, I think. But you you said so I was like, okay, fine. You know, you you were uh, that was like your Hall of Fame years, I think, of content creation was during

>> COVID. Yeah.

>> So we do it and then afterward, we I think we both had fun. Y. And then you were like, hey, uh, let's try to figure something out. And so you, Erica, etc. We we all started talking about stuff. And there's two defining moments that I remember. The first is uh, I was sitting in the office uh, with Erica and we were talking and you came in. You had about maybe twice as big of an iced coffee that you were drinking and you were pacing back and forth. And we were talking about doing Barstool Finance and partnership, all this stuff, right?

>> And one of the things that we kept talking about was should we invent some kind of game or sport? And I remember we're talking about like, should we do heads up trading? What all this stuff?

>> You're just pacing back and forth and all of a sudden you just start muttering, "I don't know," to us or to yourself. "They never saw me coming. They never saw me coming."

>> What was I talking about?

>> Wall Street. And I look at you and I say, and I say, "Dave, three days ago you were on TV. You had a cigar in your mouth saying you're the king of Wall Street. And yesterday you were pulling Scrabble letters out of a bag saying, you know, this is so easy. I'm better than Warren Buffet."

>> Yep.

>> And Erica and I both were like, "This is electric content. Like there there's no way to beat this." And of course, Wall Street doesn't know how to compete with, you know what I mean? Like like CNBC can't do this. None of this stuff. And so I don't think any of that was planned. Like I think the Scrabble bag, you probably just grabbed and was like, this will be funny and then it turns into a thing. Is that like how most of the content got created?

>> All of the content. I mean, there there we we do a we have a lot of people, a lot of talented people, myself included. You try different things. You see what resonates. But yeah, uh, like DDTG was massive when it was going and clearly that was never something I thought that was uh, early days of COVID. It was we just did the deal with Penn. It's supposed to be sports gambling. We signed the deal. The ink's not even dry. One of the all-time most disparaging stories ever is when we rang the bell on NASDAQ. It was the worst day in the history of NASDAQ. Like we're popping champagne and the entire board behind you is just bright red. Like the country is ending. The world is ending. No one knows what's going bottles um to celebrate the sale. But that was that's how recent like the deal was signed. COVID sports sports go away.

>> Good thing you got assigned.

>> Ex. Really. And I didn't know if they were going to business. Their stock went down to like $3 or $2 and I wasn't that close with Jay yet. We just did the deal. So I didn't know what was going on, but I knew we were supposed to promote sports gambling. That's why they bought us. Gone. So it's like, all right, well, the stock market's still going. Um, and I decided to do that a day. We had Glenny Balls, big fat Glenny, and I'm like, hey, first day, I'm like, Glenny, give me a stock. It was around 11:45. He goes, "People get hungry at lunch." Shake Shack. So, I bought Shake Shack and we just started watching the stock market and people were riveted and I was all through COVID.

>> I mean, to be honest, people do eat lunch. So, they do eat lunch.

>> They do eat lunch and I think he bought that stock around like 30 and at one point it was like triple. Um, so I went live every morning, the stock market, opening bell, closing bell for about 15, 20 minutes, putting millions like into it, day trading it. And it it took off. And Wall Street at first, I think, hey, it's funny. This is cute. We're going to have fun with them. And then I think they started not liking me as much and everything. But I still uh, like think Wall Street is just an insiders game and and the biggest casino and the people try to like, you know, the gatekeep basically.

>> They I my take on it was they didn't like that you were saying the truth in such a like crude, transparent way because you were like, "Stocks always go up." Yes.

>> Right. And they were like, "Oh, you're not supposed to say that." Right. And you're like, "No, no, no, literally just look at the market."

>> Look at the history of the stock market. Right.

>> It just keeps going up. Like, you guys are not smart. The stock market. They had never dealt with an internet guy. So, you know, I'm saying I'm the new captain of the internet and Warren Buffett's old and and like, what do you trust? Like an 80-year-old guy to run any business? Why are you listening to him? And there was also one of those moments, those peak moments where I was like, I don't think airlines or cruises are going out of business. So Spirit Airline, which is now out of business, is like a was trading down to like six bucks. I'm like, I'm going all in on Spirit Airlines. Big whoop-dedoo. We fly in this country. No less than 10 minutes later, Warren Buffett's like, "I'm selling all my stock in the airlines." So I posed it, me versus Buffett. And Spirit Airlines actually ripped. It went from like six to 21 in that span. So I'm like, you follow this idiot. Now I'm putting on a show. It's it's

>> But you were right though. I mean,

>> I was in that case. I was totally right. But I'm still I'm talking in Barstool language. Well, when you see Dave Portnoy, he says he's the new captain of the stock market. Warren Buffett's old and washed up. In the Wall Street Journal, it hits a little different, but that's what was happening. I was spoofed on billions. They like they had a guy sitting at a desk whacking. So, that was a a whole new audience that that was introduced. But I think a lot of people also started to realize like you were essentially a mirror to what was really happening in the market. Like there was tons of young people coming in, all this, right? So like in a weird way, maybe you were just like an older version of what was actually happening, but you were the one who was communicating it as directly as possible to the people on the internet.

>> Yeah. And then the GameStop thing happened and I was dead smack in the middle of it because I'm day trading and like,

>> Didn't you bully Steve Cohen off the internet?

>> Yeah, Steve Cohen deleted uh his his

>> Tell that story because I know I actually know the other side of that story.

>> Yeah. So, the GameStop thing happens and I'm trying to ride it like everybody else. I was maybe a day or two late, but I'm like, "Oh my god, the Wall Street Bets thing's going bananas." Roaring Kitty had posted a video about me like before this happened. He's like, "People are making fun of David Day Trader. He's going to the moon." Like before Roaring Kitty was Roaring Kitty. So, I I was in the middle of it. And then all of a sudden, you can't buy it. You can only sell it. And the thing craters. I think I lost 70 grand on it. I'm like, what? What is going on? As was everybody else, mostly noviceses and a lot of people actually who didn't trade stocks, who had heard about it, friends who signed up for accounts and put money into this thing to be totally screwed. Like totally screwed. Uh, Vlad Tenev, he his first interview was with me. I had on DDTG and I'm grilling him. He's trying to be like hipster. He was wearing a Lakers hat. I didn't know half the stuff I was talking about because I wasn't overly fluent. Um, and Steve Cohen, it went through. So that's it. It the way I remember it is it appeared to me that Citadel, Steve Cohen were trying to bail out all these the the hedge funds, the people who are shorting it. So I was hammering Steve Cohen, who doesn't have the best Wall Street reputation. I'm like, "Did you guys do the inside trade? Are you getting the information from Robinhood? Are you involved in this?"

>> He had just like gotten on Twitter started

>> Because he bought the Mets. Because he bought the Mets.

>> So he got on. So the the side of the story I know is that he basically was like, I'm going to talk to the fans. And when this is all going on, he has a bunch of people around him. Yep.

>> Who are like, hey,

>> Let us help you. Let us review the tweets, you know, like kind of doing the thing that if you're there to like mitigate risk. Yep.

>> Number one is don't let the billionaire tweet directly to the people.

>> Yeah. Right. Yeah. And supposedly he was like, "Nah, I got it." And he just told everyone like, "Leave it alone." And then he did not, I think, realize who he was engaging with.

>> Yeah. He he came and went quick and and and who I I've gone back and forth like I I've never met him. I've heard stories like he's somebody if if you want to put down a list of people you don't want to cross, he's generally high on that list. So I don't know if that has complicated things down the road, but yeah, he he deleted it quick. Like his

>> So he deleted the entire account.

>> Yeah. Gone.

>> And what did you do when that happened?

>> I said I ran him off. I ran him off Twitter. He's come back. But and I still ask every once in a while. I mean, they they the movie Dumb Money, which was about that whole thing. I still don't know how because we get threats, de uh, like take down requests, all this. The movie Dumb Money used a clip of me in the movie without asking me, which I still don't know how. They had the clip of me talking to Vlad Tenev, except instead of Vlad, they put in the actor who played, but I was still real and it was still the real conversation. No one No one told me. It's like, oh, I'm in the movie. Do

>> Do you want a royalty check?

>> No, my ego is fine with being in the movie. And maybe they knew that. Like, trust me, this guy's just going to be happy as mentioned. But yeah, so it was like every somehow a trait of mine and ability of mine. It's not on purpose. We're pretty good at ending up smack dab in the middle of big things. Like how in the world was I in the middle of a GameStop controversy? But I was there and I but it's also on the internet. And I think that there is something about like having your finger on the pulse of what's happening and and I think being able to communicate what you're thinking. One of your greatest skills is just like you just say what you think. Yeah.

>> Right. And so you're like, "Hey, what what are all these people over here doing?" It's kind of like you're walking down the sidewalk, you see a big group gathering and you're just nosy, right? Like, "Hey, what's this group?"

>> And for this for the finance, they just had never there hadn't been an innovation in how people talked about finance probably till Mad Money. Like, and Mad Money had been around forever. There weren't people making hype videos like I was making.

>> Green dildo or whatever. The green I had a green hammer. I mean, I was going after these these like hedge the people on TV. I mean, I was crucifying them and and they didn't know how to react. And by the way, if you react, you probably lost because I have a team of like ninjas making these hype videos for me. So, it was uh, it was something.

>> Yeah. I mean, it was pretty entertaining at minimum, right? All right. Um, so the second interaction uh or part of this interaction is we started talking about, hey, should we go do this deal or whatever? And uh, I never really thought that this was like a big deal or anything that was noteworthy, but I heard Big Cat on a podcast say that I was one of the only people to ever go through, hey, should we do something together and walk away? And he was very uh shocked because the deal that you had offered at the time was let's do Barstool Finance and we'd be 50/50 partners on it. And the part that I got hung up on was I was to take all of the assets and contribute them to it and you guys would bring the Barstool machine. And a world I come out of is you got to buy it, right? And so we just were like, "Hey, look, we like each other. We think this could be pretty powerful, whatever, but I'm like, hey, look, you guys got to buy it. You guys like, no, you just contribute it." And the reason why that was so interesting to me was I think I got an insight into how you guys worked with so many of these creators, right? Most of them aren't business-oriented. They don't selling their Instagram account or whatever. It's like not a thing. But then you look at your track record and the ability to supercharge these people, whether it's the, you know, Call Her Daddies or whatever. Like, I don't know if there's anybody who's got a bigger hits business than you guys have had over the last 15 years or so. Taking people who nobody knows and making them huge stars, right?

>> Yeah. I I've said that. Uh, I think I would put our roster of digital media, new age media stars up against any network really. Um, you know, if you include me, but me, Big Cat, PFT, and then you look, I mean, Busting with the Boys, Spitting Chicklets, uh,

>> Call Her Daddy.

>> Call Her Daddy, Jenna Marbles, uh, even KFC on Instagram and stuff. One minute, you know, man, all yeah, it it that is that is the model. What you just described and that is how we do the model with a lot of the people. It it's uh, now I don't know if we had like a term on yours like the the talent is generally. Well, you do two or three years. Very similar to an athlete in a way.

>> You basically sign them and then there's some sort of like revenue share component to it, right?

>> Yeah. It depends how big they are when they come into our world on what that is.

>> Now you've started to uh eat into more. So now you guys, you know, you've gotten into alcohol, you do the events, you sign the big deal with Fox, do you know the Saturday football stuff. Like it almost feels like you guys as a business have graduated. Are you still looking for some of like the undiscovered talent and that's still part of the model or do you feel like you've reached a point now where

>> We always are. It's it's far more difficult to find that talent now. Um, because they don't need us as much. It it it really you're evaluating two things. Hey, we can as you said, supercharge your career if you're talented. You can basically cut the line. You can grow really fast. But in this day and age of, you know, streaming and Twitch and Instagram and Snapchat and and TikTok, you can build a pretty big brand without being attached to a network. It's a lot easier. So you that that's what people who try to hire have to weigh. Um, we're always looking, but it's we're we're not going like it's not the number one priority. If we find them, great. We will hire them, but we're not out there scouring.

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>> I I think one of the aspects is like you guys have always been edgy, right? And so you have this line in the book that's like, "You don't cancel me, I cancel you." And you look at, you know, Penn deal, right? You look at Steve Cohen. I mean, we can just go through all these examples. There's some people who are really attracted to that and they want to come and work with you guys, etc. There's a lot of people who are just like, "These guys are [ __ ] crazy. I don't want to be associated with them." Whatever.

>> A huge reason is because the media came after you. How bad was that? Like I I know that people look at you and they're like, "Oh, he he punches back." And there's a lot of folks who I think are inspired by that or whatever, but like I've had people come after me. I've had, you know, death threats, all it's not fun. I can't imagine that you were in a good spot.

>> The Business Insider stuff was the lowest I've been uh probably in the Barstool 20-something years.

>> Like you felt like you were under attack.

>> Yeah. And it's not only under attack. I I I knew there were lies and I knew what they were going to write. And you know, the day before the article comes out, like I call my parents and be like, "Just heads up, this is going to be written about me tomorrow and everyone's going to be talking about it." That's a horrible thing to do. My girlfriend at the time, ex-girlfriend, I hadn't met her parents yet. They're saying really, I mean, if we're just being blunt, they didn't accuse me of rape. And in the article, it's like there isn't, but the headline's rape. Like they they said it's basically reads as rape.

>> Um, totally made up. It was to me it was very depressing. It was very scary that that can be done on that level and and I you know, I fought that tooth and nail. I tried to sue, didn't get anywhere with that. Uh, and even that will be misconstrued as malice, like because they didn't they didn't say I was in jail when I wasn't. But if I could ever get like the emails on how this happened and where it came from, there's no amount of money I wouldn't pay for that because I know it was a hit piece and I don't know where it came from. So yeah, that uh, that was a bad time. I don't care about a lot of the other stuff. Like I, it's so

>> But that's the one that bothered you.

>> That's the one. And still, did you think about giving up at any point? Just being like, I'm just going to go away?

>> No, but I mean, I still live with it every day. Like, you know, we were just talking a little bit about politics before we started and and people don't like me. Like, they'll quote that article like it's real and be like, "Oh, you're going to listen to this guy and there's nothing I can ever do to change it." But that's that'll be with me forever on totally false. And when I say false, I always make it clear. I'm not talking like, oh, there's 0.11 chance. There's zero. It's just a made-up article. Um, so that that was low. You you I think you are the uh, I don't know if you call uh, the Wall Street communications strategy innovation. I know you call it that. I don't know if that's really innovation, but I do think the innovation was like, "Oh, you're a journalist? Well, why don't we just sit down, have a conversation, and we'll just roll the cameras, no editing, and we'll just see what happens."

>> Which

>> I had never heard anyone say that to a reporter before. That was the funniest [ __ ] of all time.

>> And they won't do it. Like, which is which is always my point. Like the Business Insider and then the New York Times, each spent a year plus in my life and didn't want to sit down with the subject they were interviewing. And by the way, they never talked to my ex-wife, who I was married to for five years, dated for five. Never talked to Erica Nardini, never talked to any of our female employees. They were just calling every people would send me uh audio recordings of the reporter and they were crazy that it's like they're so digging. So yes, I've always said even this book tour, people would come up and and I'd be like, "Yeah, I'll do it." But uh, I'm recording it. The Wall Street Journal literally came over and and he he said, "I I hadn't read your book and I heard all your requests to do this interview and I was very confused why you were like, I have to record it." And then he's like, "I read your book. I I understand now why you want to record it." And I learned that early on. I learned that uh from Inside Edition and a clip that will still. This is when I was young, naive, dumb. I thought they were going to do a fair interview. It was a hit piece and it was all it was two hours chopped into 45 seconds of making me look like Hitler and I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to have to be a little more careful because I am I I was naive at that point."

>> Well, you come from the internet, you come from newspapers, right? And then all of a sudden it's like, "Hey, these people have an agenda and they've got distribution in a a game where you don't have a megaphone back. Like you can't reach the TV audience without going through."

>> Correct. Right.

>> And and I grew up in a household like my dad New York Times gossip like CNN gossip. That's that's the household I grew up in. And and it's kind of what I just thought. I like I never till I got into Barstool really thought about, oh, the the Times has left or the Washington Post has left. That never crossed my mind really. I I didn't pay that much attention. Uh, you mentioned politics. Uh, you're all over the news right now because you said that you may run for mayor of New York City. Why not just run for president? I mean, it really the the New York City thing is because I'm specifically it's not I guess only here, but I am overly disgusted with what is going on with who's being elected from Mandami down to these primaries and the things they've said. They've let the fox into the hen house. And I am as I'm sure you are, but I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a capitalist. I'm not saying this country is perfect, but I do love this country. And they're openly like saying they hate the country and they want over I mean, it it doesn't even sound real when you're like, well, she found a group that wanted to overthrow western society and that she said

>> Like state the stated uh mission of the group.

>> Correct. And it's like that we're electing her like and Mandami's got her hand in the air and they're doing a pub crawl. So that's that's shocking to me. That's really uh, that's why I said New York City because you know, he he is doing what he said he wanted to do before he got elected, which is get as many socialists elected and then basically seize the means of communication and they truly seem like they don't like this country and they want a major change. So that's when you know, I get asked

>> I go back and forth on it. I like, could I win in New York? Probably not. A lot of people being like, "You're going to win in New York."

>> Because the Democrat

>> Demographics uh stronghold.

>> Yeah. Yeah. I think it'll be really hard. An outsider, but who knows? Um

>> Would you run as a Republican or an independent?

>> Probably independent. But I'll tell you what I would do, which would be a little shift from Mandami. He's got these idiotic politicians who don't know what the internet is, and he uses it like a weapon. He's never gone up against somebody who can be like, "Not so fast." Like, "You think you're good at the internet? I'm pretty good at the internet myself." So, it would be a very different type of opponent for him than what he's used to. It's almost like he's treating like how I was treating Wall Street. They don't know what to do when he's making these cutesy videos.

>> Yeah. He he's got kind of like a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood vibe in the videos. By the way, he's an excellent communicator at doing it.

>> He's very good. He's very savvy. Um, and he knows how to use the internet and social media and appeal to these people and and the people he's campaigned against have absolutely no answers and no idea how to combat that.

>> I I may not win, but

>> For some internet stuff, I'll do some internet stuff.

>> I think that uh your meme warfare would be very good compared to like Mr. Rogers Neighborhoods.

>> Totally. And I'm sure I could raise an absolute war chest because there's a lot of people who do not like this guy. So, uh, yeah. I mean, you asked in the beginning off camera like, "Is it real?" It is real. Do I think it's going to happen? No. But there's a lot of times I feel like my dad on the other side, I I can't get out of this space. Like, it's social media. It's the TV. And I I really am like, what

Is going on in this country? Specifically starting in New York. I feel like Mandami is the head of the snake. Um, so that's why I said New York. And then other days I'm like, Dave, you have a great life. You're in Isle Marada half the year in the Keys and Nucket and you've made it. Why? Like, why do you want this? I mean, I said that about Trump. Like, what made Trump want to be president? Seem to have a pretty good life. And there's no dirtier game than politics.

>> 100%. How many houses you have?

>> Great question. Uh, I have five. Five houses. One's got mold in it being fixed.

>> So, it's pretty crazy to go from the newspapers to you had to think for a second how many houses you have.

>> Yes.

>> Yeah. I Yeah. Listen, Bar stool has been that that's what the book really did. It's like you look back and it's like, how did we do this? I don't even know. Could it ever be done again in the it probably not the right time, right place? Um, I never dreamed it we'd become this successful. It's been a wild, wild ride.

>> How much money do you think you spend in a month?

>> I have no clue. I mean, I'm actually not an overly I like horses.

>> Yeah.

>> Uh, and I bet on sports, but I'm not like flashier going out. So,

>> like I I I my take on you is like you don't really party and do all like the crazy things where like most people blow a bunch of money but you know horses and houses like those are expensive.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Those are but the houses are an investment. So it's like if the house listen I don't think you can go wrong where I'm getting the houses and and if this the money is sitting in the stock market we're sitting in real estate to me that that's

>> Did you buy any of the houses sight unseen

>> or did you visit each one of them?

>> I visited each one of them and I had the same feeling. So Nucket's my favorite place in the world. Dream place going. Had the absolute like best feeling when I walked through the door. That was the same with my aisle Marada house.

>> You just knew.

>> Just knew. And then Saratoga, I bought a tear down and rebuilt it near the track. So those are the three that I'm really in.

>> All right. Um, in the content game, one of the things that I hear people talking about, but I haven't really seen anyone do yet is all this AI content. you worry about that at all with Barcel?

>> In what sense?

>> Like if somebody shows up and is like, "Hey, we don't even need the talent anymore. Forget like I think you called it, you know, your your circus of idiots and we can just like remove all the cost of this and we're just going to use computers."

>> Yeah. Well, that luckily for the morons who work for me, I I wouldn't do that. But I could I could replace 90% of my staff with AI. I did my audio book and I couldn't read. Like, I can't read. I actually think I do have dyslexia a little bit. Like I hated it. So I spent 10 grand to have this very advanced AI read it. You could not tell the difference. I couldn't tell the difference. My parents couldn't tell the difference. They won't let me do it. The book company's like can't do it. Like you

>> So you had to read it.

>> Yeah. So I had to read it. But the AI was so good. It was scary. Like nobody would ever know it was me. It was picking up everything. So, of course, AI could replace

>> Mhm.

>> these fools I have. Although, we have had a couple employees try to use AI and it almost makes them too intelligent where we're like, "That's not you because it's too good." So, but it it is it is a tool that if I wasn't working for us, like if we sold or I was out and it was ESPN and pen, 100% that would be a concern.

>> Do you use any other AI tools like on day-to-day basis?

>> No, none. I mean, well, I use like chat.

>> Yeah. Yeah. We got to get you on Sylvia. You You seen that yet?

>> No.

>> We We built this product. You uh go in and you attach all your accounts, like your financial accounts. You just talk to it about your finances.

>> Oh.

>> So, if you were like uh you know, hey, should I buy the horse or not?

>> Yeah.

>> It has all

>> I don't want to disparage one of your products since it's yours, but that sounds like one of those horror movies where the robot takes over your finances and you go and log in. I'm out of money.

>> It can't It can't touch the money. can't touch the money. Well, maybe it'd be too smart, right? Is like

>> eventually it it eventually one day there's a like one of these and there's been a lot of the movies where the robots become too intelligent like turn around kill the humans.

>> That's going to happen with AI and we're going to be like we who couldn't have seen this coming. I mean it's becoming that smart.

>> You do you worry about that? Like

>> no conspira but I mean it's crazy how what it can do.

>> Yeah. Cfossilia.com. You should check it out. Um your uh ex-wife.

>> Yep.

>> You said that she was the first person you called when they tried to fire you from Barto stool. I also saw a clip that she still has access to your bank account.

>> Yeah, that's a Shan Sharp clip. It like crazy viral.

>> Okay, so uh explain what's going on there.

>> Yeah, so she's really one of my best friends still to this day. Uh she was with me from day one. Literally in the book it's like she would hand out newspapers day one. So we always had a great relationship. We didn't separate because there was some scandal or anything else. We both it it we had love for each other, but maybe we weren't in love, if that makes any sense. But I've trust her implicitly. She's somebody who was there with me from day one. Like living every up, living every down. Hey, we got to go move in with your in-laws. We have no money. We can't do this. We can't. Never complained. Always like very supportive. Had my back. So to me, she's she's part of the growth and really we separated when the thing exploded. Trust her always. Um, so it it never really occurred. We didn't get divorced right off the bat. In fact, we still haven't. But it the reason the beginning was like, let's see what separation's like.

>> And we stayed separated and, you know, the money was coming in. She can do whatever. I trust her. She could have always at any point still today be like, I'm taking all the money. I'm running. I just know she would never do it. is trusting somebody as much as I trust my parents. Really? Um, we did try to get divorce. It got denied by Massachusetts.

>> Why?

>> Uh, so

>> I didn't even know they could do that.

>> Neither did I. It was news to me. Um, we had an agreement set up.

>> It's like a reverse arranged marriage.

>> Yeah. It's I didn't know they could do it. They said it was unequitable. Um, but she also was like I think at the time I was buying the Nucket house. It's like, well, it it if we just split everything, it's just going to sit there in the bank account anyways the same way, except I don't have the collateral to get to Nucket House. And she didn't want it. And we had a very good it's like she gets it. It was set up in a way exactly pretty much how we were living for the past 5 to 6 years except to make it legal and the judge was like, "No." So, it's very rare, I think, in life that you have somebody that you can trust like that, which you've been through the ups and downs and everything. And she's one of them. I'll always be there for her and I think she'll be there for me.

>> Yeah, makes sense. Uh, Bitcoin, you went from uh I think hating it to you. You became the diamond hand.

>> Yeah, I hate it again.

>> Yeah. Why?

>> Yeah. Well, what do you think? Why? It's like I'm always in at the wrong time. So,

>> when you when you start talking about it, I do get nervous.

>> Yeah.

>> As soon as I see you start, I'm like, a [ __ ]

>> So, I I originally the whole Winkl Voss disaster was it was 11,000 when the Winkl Vosses explained to me what Bitcoin was. came to your house and I remember

>> the first time it was we're both in the Hamptons there at the same hotel and they they're like we own like whatever the Bitcoin and we're 6'2 and there's two of us so we'll come explain it to you and they said Elon Musk will go to outer space he's going to mine gold from outer space and rain down plentiful said these [ __ ] guys are crazy so I had bought 2 million of it at 11,000 they walked out of the room sold them I don't I I do not understand any of what they're saying. It went to like 50,000 or 60,000 in fast order. Like you can probably find the date of when they did that and see how quickly

>> from like August or September of 2020 to like March of 2021. 6 months.

>> Yes. So, and that's when they were there. August. So, it's like all right, I if you 6x 2 million, that's 12 million. I I was not happy. And then I was like, I got to get back in it. Everyone's talking about this thing. I've been in out. I'm in. right now probably at an average of like a hundred bucks something like that. What do we have 59? I don't know what the hell's going on with it. I really don't.

>> Nobody knows.

>> No, I mean you got Sailor selling it saying it's good that he's selling it. Who knows? Who knows? I'm not going to sell it. It may go to zero. I may lose millions again.

>> All right. But it's not like a material part of your net worth.

>> It's enough that I'm like I look at it every day. Will I be fine? Yeah. Uh, but I probably had, you know, 15 million in it at some point. You

>> $15 million of Bitcoin?

>> Not anymore. I don't.

>> No. No.

>> But I probably did. Yeah.

>> You know, you know how to get 10 million is you start with 15.

>> Yeah. I I mean I'm always always on the wrong side of Bitcoin and crypto. Always.

>> Well, there's other coins that you bought along the way and I could see like the chats, right? Yeah,

>> the chats would convince you.

>> Well, I I dabbled with meme coins, which was honestly maybe in the 20 years the craziest thing I was ever involved in. Like it

>> remember you did the hat uh like a college selection and uh you picked one of the coins over that?

>> That was Safe Moon.

>> Safe Moon.

>> Yeah. And then I got mentioned in a lawsuit. They're like, "You were an insidider." Like I literally picked out of a hat said, "I have no idea. It's probably a scam." And I lost all my money. So, but I had to hire a lawyer because there's all these influencers who I guess were given free Safe Moon and didn't disclose and I got included in that and it's like I got my I got killed. I told people but I had to pay a lawyer and then they laid it out and they dismissed me from the charge but I still to pay for it. Yeah. So, I I'm always always always on the wrong side of everything regarding that.

>> How do you pick what stocks you buy now?

>> Uh, I I'm fairly safe right now. Like I I have a guy who helps me like a broker, but it it it's fairly safe. There's nothing crazy in there.

>> All right. I want I want to uh mention three moments in Barcel history. You tell me what you remember from them. Uh Brady 6

>> going to jail. Clearly that that's the most

>> Did you think you were going to go to jail?

>> No. No. They're very bar stool. It's like I we don't think too far in advance. Um, I thought even

>> you change, just for people who don't know, you change yourself to the NFL.

>> So when Brady got the four game suspension from the NFL for defle, we're like, we got to do something. We're still in Boston. Drove to New York, put like one, two, I black on, Patrick year. We went to NFL headquarters, demanded to speak to Roger Goodell. They said no. They actually first asked if we had an appointment and then uh they said no. But we handcuffed ourselves to each other in the headquarters and did a sit in and got arrested and and the police were kind of they knew who we were at that point a little bit. They're kind of joking. So I didn't think we were going to get arrested. Uh I was wrong. We spent a day in jail. It was horrible. So that that's the memory.

>> Did people in jail know who you were?

>> No. No.

>> Oh, the cops did.

>> The cops? No.

>> Thank God because they were trying to move us around. What do they call the tunnels? That's where we were. I mean, if you like commit murder, you go to the tunnels. like it's where everybody goes who commits a crime in New York City that night and there can be some scary people there. The cops knew we were not a threat and they were trying to move us around to keep us kind of separated from like hardened criminals. Um, yeah, that

>> you mean the guys in the Patriots gear or not?

>> Yeah, right. Like the guys protesting brave when the judge saw us the next day and it would be like the case before us would be like domestic abuse, something serious or like a murder and then we get up there and she like what' you do? was like we pro protested Tom fl Tom Tom Brady and she cracked a little smile. It's off our records. So yeah.

>> All right. Howitzer Gate is probably one of the the craziest ones.

>> Yeah. It's funny because Will Compton who worked for us busting with the boys. Big star. Uh

>> is he a star?

>> He's a star. He's a he's a star. And I like Will. He's one of the guys I wish we could have back. But um he text

>> what's it called? Like Seal Seal Team Six or whatever. What does he do? Dad Team Six.

>> Yeah. He does all sorts of stuff like that. But uh he texted me this morning. He didn't even know about Brady Gate. That shows how long we've been doing. He worked for us. Had no idea what it was.

>> Wow.

>> That I mean he's viral. He brings you in the closet, you know, farts in the phone.

>> Yeah. Yeah. No, he he's

>> he is a big star.

>> Yeah. Um

>> Howitzer Gate.

>> That was was that our first really huge controversy. So, that's back in the blogging days when I'm just cranking out 10 to 15 blogs a day, every 45 minutes looking for something. Uh, that's interesting. It's also the height of the Patriots, Colts rivalry, specifically Brady versus Manning. Like, I hated Pton Manning. I was so team Patriots, whatever. At this point, every the media is always Pton Manning this, Pton Manning that, Colts this, Colts that, Colts 14-0 to start a season. Patriots got no respect, but we whooped them every year. Talk to one. So, and I'm doing my scrolling across the internet to talk about, find things to talk about, and lo and behold, there's a picture of Jazelle, uh, Brady's wife, their little toddler on the beach. It's an infant toddler, wellendowed, to say the least. It was like shocking. So, I wrote a blog, check out the Howarditzer on Brady's kid. And then the sentence below is Pton Manning could never have a kid like this. That was it. It was like a shot at Pton Manning. Moved on. Didn't think anything of it.

>> Like that was a whole blog post.

>> Yeah, that was it. It was like just Pton Manning could never have a kid like this. Press publish. Move on. I don't know how long it was. Couple hours. All hell breaks loose. Dave's a pedophile. Dave's posting pictures of uh kids dicks. A lot of people didn't know how the internet worked. People were acting like I was in the bushes with a camera, a long range camera taking a picture. The picture was all over the paparazzi pages. like the same pages we went to get photographed. It was everywhere. And I thought I was making a very clear Pton Manning joke. Well, I mean, people were calling for my head. The state police showed up at my house. Uh, I was on Howard Stern. Howard Stern trashed me. It was It was nuts. And people still, in the book, I talk about it. People still bring up out of context tweets from that controversy as like

>> trying to say got them.

>> Yeah. Like Dave Dave, there's a there's a a tweet I have that says, "Wh he's he's two years old. It's child porn." I This sounds horrible even saying I'm mimicking people who are saying that because it's like the kid's so young. If you sexualize the kid, you're screwed up. It's like the Gerber baby. But people have no idea what the quote came from or what it's in. So they're like, "Dave, it's crazy." Um, so yeah, that was a that was a wild time. Wild. All right, last one is uh Tiko Texas.

>> I didn't see that one. Tikico, Texas.

>> I mean, that's gota that's like catch me outside before catch me outside.

>> Yeah, Tico Texas. Tico Texas. How do we even start here? So, so Loud Sean is a rapper.

>> Yep.

>> Loud Shawn.

>> What a name.

>> Yeah. La uh No. Was it Loud? No. Little Sean. Big Sean. Big Sean. Loud Shawn was a crazy employee we had. Big Shawn rapper was dating Ariana Grande. Yep.

>> They broke up.

>> Kevin Clancy, who works for us,

>> was like, "What a what what a fumble by Big Sean. You're never going to get someone bigger than Ari better than Ariana Grande. You're lucky you had Ariana Grande." There was a rapper in Texas called Tikico Texas who I don't know how her Twitter feed found Kevin's tweet, but it did. And she did not like it. She was a big Big Sean fan. How dare you say that about Big Shawn. You're an idiot. She was black. Kevin's white. She started calling him a baseball fan. That was her word for like white fans. And she's like, "You're the worst." It turned into this battle and Tikico Texas wrote a rap song about Kevin dissing him. Kevin wrote a rebuttal rap song about Tico Texas also killed me in it because I was on Tico's side. I was like, "Go get Kevin. He's such a baseball fan." Whatever Tico did, I was like, "Tell me more, Tico." And uh I ended up then writing a rap song, getting in the rise page, use Rise. I went to South by Southwest to visit Tiko in one of the crazier three-day trips I've ever had. She eventually was a full-time employee Tikico, Texas. She just stopped showing up to work. Um, but just

>> you had to fire her.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Yeah. Just another one.

>> It is hard to get fired from Bar.

>> Real hard. She just wasn't showing up.

>> Yeah.

>> Her contract was probably up and we didn't renew. Uh, just another one of those crazy shooting stars we've had in our universe.

>> All right. You got this book uh that came out uh Dave Poroy, cancel me if you can. I got to say the best marketing I've seen for a book is you sitting next to the pool. Just open up to a random page. You just start reading and it's electric.

>> Oh yeah.

>> I mean that is like there is no better like let me show you.

>> Yeah. I wish I could read the whole thing in that voice. I the audio book you can't be like that because it's hard to read like that an entire book. But yeah, that that

>> I haven't felt pressure to market anything in a long time. I feel pressure with the book. Like I don't know why I do like if it's not on the New York best bestsellers list. I

>> Do you think they would put you on if you had the numbers?

>> So I didn't know that it was

>> it's editorialized. Yeah.

>> Correct. Now they did promote it as saying it would be one of the bigger books of the summer. So maybe. But yeah, I I

>> I I don't know why. I don't know why some things put pressure on me. I feel pressure for this to be successful.

>> All right. Well, we don't want you to feel pressure. So

>> I do. I feel pressure.

>> No, I know. But like if people go by the book then the pressure is relieved.

>> You need to buy book buy multiple. They're not that expensive. And for the first week, when's this dropping?

>> Uh today.

>> So I'm doing $10 because I didn't do this for money. And to be honest, I don't even understand how the book industry works. It it seems like not the most lucrative thing of all time to spend your time on a book. Um no offense to, you know, our publishing is great gallery, but I don't get the finances. I didn't do it for the money, but so $10 every book I'm giving to Lifeline Animal Shelter this week, which is basically probably all the profit. Uh, which is where I got Miss Miss Peaches and Pet.

>> Yeah, Bar Stool Fund, you did a great job there. Now you do more with the animals, right?

>> Yep. Yep.

>> How many uh businesses with the Barcel Fund?

>> We're close to 450. Raised about 50 million.

>> Yeah, that's crazy.

>> Yeah, that's probably the proudest thing that I have. Actually, that's another I should have said another interaction with you, Erica, and Bar stool was watching you guys try to figure out how to take crypto was quite hilarious.

>> Yes. Yeah. And and there were a lot of big mouths in crypto who got shut up real quick though because they're like, "If you get it, we'll donate all this money." And that just never came. It's like, "We spent all this. Where's our crypto?" It just never came.

>> I remember I introduced you guys to a company like, "All right, we'll help." Then they called me back and they were like, "I don't know if anyone can help them."

>> We did. We had no idea how to do it. None. Zero. But all these people like take crypto, we'll do it. We'll do it. We did get it done and it just never came. But yeah, that was uh very proud of that. I mean, there's a lot of business still if I see them like we saved a lot of business, a lot of great businesses. So, I'm proud of that.

>> Listen, I think that you probably get too much [ __ ] for the uh for the bad stuff. You don't get enough credit for the good stuff. So, I think you're doing a great job. Cancel me if you can. Everyone go pick it up. Appreciate it.