This is the email I sent to Barstool today and I wanted to share it with everyone.
I cannot thank the Stoolies enough for coming along this journey with us.
I am stepping down as CEO.
Barstool is and has always been so many different things.
At the heart of it, i came here to work with Dave.
I liked Dave instantly and I trusted him.
I am forever changed by it and grateful for it.
I learned a lot and got a chance to do so much.
Barstool has always been and always will be what you put into it.
Expectations were low, assumptions of failure were probably high.
We blew past our 5 year goals in 20 months.
As of today, revenue has grown 5000% since July, 2016.
In the same time period, audience grew even more.
Out of mayhem we created maybe a miracle but most definitely a machine.
We flew to Dallas and bought Old Row.
In 2017 most days I fed Devlin half my lunch, shepherded Marina on the train and you podcasted.
The office became 2 floors not one and we still spilled out of it.
Ria and Fran took up residence in the merch closet.
We signed McAfee and opened his Indy office.
The internet never worked.
We had one control room and one functioning bathroom with a toilet that had a piss meter above it.
We made it to Sirius, FB, Comedy Central and ESPN.
We were summarily cancelled by 3 out of the 4.
We tried to mainstream until it was obvious we couldnt, so Barstool became it.
In 2018 we tried Gold.
We got bigger and bigger advertisers.
We started to make Pink Whitney and found Biz to join Whit.
We spent more and more time on social.
I spent Christmas answering customer complaints about missing KFC quilted hoodies.
We got money from Chernin to keep growing.
Probably some of the best money they ever spent.
Paspa was repealed and it was obvious this was the way to create an exit.
2019 was a blur.
In 2020 we took the investment from Penn and agreed to the eventual sale in 2023.
Then Barstool blew up over Covid.
One because the content was good.
We launched the Barstool Fund and got $40M into the hands of small business owners.
I spent Christmas crying at a video from a dry cleaner in Chicago.
The last two years was all Penn all the time.
In the last year we sold the company twice.
First to Penn for $550M and then to Dave for $1.
It seems insane and it was.
Thats a lot of trips around the sun but here we are again.
Barstool is back as it should be.
A pirate ship with Dave at the helm.
You built something extraordinary and one of a kind.
Thank you for giving me this chance to create something with you.
It was once in a lifetime for me and I will be forever grateful.
You are also in the presence of greatness.
Believe in it and keep making something with it.
Gaz was Daves guy.
Id argue he knows more about social than most people in social and has built a world class team.
Id put our people up against anybody, anytime.
Big Cat is a force.
There are few bigger.His trajectory, work ethic and love of gym sports remains unmatched.
Barstool has the biggest stars in sports, comedy and entertainment on the internet.
Its not a coincidence.
Riggs covered politics when I met him now he golfs with Tiger.
Hank was silent but also silently becoming a super producer.
Frankie made pizzas with his dad.
I think Ria was a pharmacy tech.
Dana was trying to win free suits from Miltons.
All of you are so, so, so much more than when you and we started together.
There is so much talent in this house.
This is a strong team.
And now its about the team, the team, the team.
Be good to one another and to this thing we all built.
Now you better do this for each other.
Turn the cameras on regardless.
Lastly a huge thank you.
Thank you for making me laugh!
Thank you for letting me learn with you.
My time at Barstool will forever inspire me.
I gave you my all.
Thank you for giving me so much more.
