Dave Portnoy claims he was offered an official government position.
While questioning how Elon Musk could continue as Tesla's CEO, he made clear that while performing his duties with the government's efficiency department under President Portnoy, the founder and owner of Barstool Sports, the administration hopes he will work for the Commerce Department under Secretary Howard Latnick.
But it would have had to have him resigned from his role in Barstool Sports.
“I got a call a few months ago, I don't know, I don't know when I got the call,” Portnoy said on Tuesday's “Davy Day Traders Global” show. “And that was, “Hey, do you have any interest in me, Dave, the Department of Commerce, and the Secretary of Commerce below, [Howard] Lutonic, or the man working under him. ”
“And they say, 'But the warning that you're going to join the government is that someone has to run a bar stool. You can't run a bar stool and work for the government.” I don't think Elon has a specific title, but they look to the ball and want a CEO.
“By the way, even if you wanted to do it, they never followed up. They said, “You can find someone to run the bar stool and tell me if you're interested. Also, if you're interested, I'll call you within a week and take the next step.” That never happened. It was strange. ”
He did not reveal who specifically called him the offer.
Portnoy founded Barstool in 2003, but in 2016, before Penn National became a majority owner in 2023, it sold the majority of the company to Chernin Group.
Portnoy says it will buy back the company for $1 from Penn National in late 2023, and will not sell Barstool Sports again.
It came just months after Penn National paid $550 million to acquire 100% of the company.
But it created more problems than profits for Penn National.
“The license was denied for me,” Portnoy said when he re-acquired Barstool Sports. “You give it a name, so a regulated industry is probably not the best place for barstool sports or the content we make.”
Penn National later signed a contract with ESPN and rebranded the failed Barstool Sportsbook into ESPN bets.
Portnoy is an outspoken supporter of Trump and interviewed him in 2020 at the end of his first term at the White House.
