I first saw “PE guy” this spring while aimlessly scrolling Instagram Reels and recognized the character instantly.
Wearing a structured hat and a vest or golf polo, PE guy corners his viewers with an awkward stream of casual brags about the many status symbols his “substantial” pay package affords him: luxury vacations, posh zip codes, country clubs, and private schooling for his three kids.
At first, I found the character a little too annoying and scrolled past, but he kept popping up in my feed, and eventually, I was hooked. So hooked that my wife has banned me from starting sentences with PE guy’s “nnn yeah” vocal tic.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t look away. Private equity professionals I follow on Instagram were liking his videos before I could watch them, and he dominated the conversation at a recent breakfast I had with a public relations professional who works with the industry. To gut check my hunch, I texted a trusted industry executive who forwarded me a screenshot of his group chat with other insiders espousing their love of the character.
It was clear. I had to speak to PE guy.
Johnny Hilbrant Partridge is a 35-year-old Boston-based fitness instructor with no financial industry experience. He said his portrayal of a wealthy professional stuck in a bubble has struck a chord beyond Wall Street, resonating with people who’ve dated finance professionals and workers whose companies they have acquired.
He said his Instagram following has grown to 90,000, up from under 10,000 since the character debuted in March. And it’s led to a flood of requests for personalized video messages via the Cameo app and other platforms.
Here’s our conversation with Partridge, edited for length and clarity, on how he came up with PE guy, his take on private equity, and why he’s been reluctant to accept performance offers from PE firms and college campuses.
Simon Simard for BI
Tell me a bit about yourself and the impetus for PE guy.
I’ve been making videos on social media since you could put videos on Instagram. My goal has always been to make people laugh. I made fun of a Midwest mom who is basically my mom.
PE guy came from talking to people at weddings with a lack of self-awareness. At every wedding I’ve been to over the last five years, I’ve been stuck with somebody talking at me about themselves.
I’m a fitness instructor and I’ve never worked in finance, but I have an undergraduate business degree and a lot of my peers are in banking or finance. Some of these people love to talk about their jobs and use acronyms I don’t understand.
At the end of the conversation, they will ask, “What is it you do?” When I say I’m a fitness instructor, their heads almost explode because they don’t know how to relate to this person. Sometimes, they’ll say, “Is your company private equity backed?” It’s a last-ditch effort to find some sort of common ground.
How did an annoying wedding conversation turn into PE guy?
The first mention of PE was in a video where the character asked, “Is your company PE-backed?” It was based on a real conversation. At the time, I didn’t know if my company was PE-backed, and I was made to feel like I should know that, and that private equity is the be-all end-all.
Over time, that character morphed into the PE guy, who loves to talk about his wifey, which is hilarious to me. I’m married to a man. I don’t have any kids, but PE guy suddenly had a son named Tarantino, which people loved. So then I added two daughters (Montauk and EBITDA), and then I just revealed in a video that wifey’s pregnant with a fourth.
There’s definitely a lack of continuity. Sometimes, people will say, “I thought you said Tarantino plays squash. How come he plays soccer now?” But a lot of these things are just happy accidents.
Does the character have a name? Or is he just PE guy?
He doesn’t have a name. I don’t know that he will ever have a name, because then there’s going to be someone named Shane who’s like, “Hey, don’t use that name.”
There’s kind of a weird mystique to the fact that he doesn’t have a name, and that you’ve never seen his wife. People will comment that they want to see wifey. I’m never going to do that — unless a year from now I decide to get a mask and wig to look like wifey.
What kind of reaction have you had from the industry?
I’ve had some PE firms and other financial businesses reach out to me to perform. I’m trying to figure out how to do that, because my face doesn’t actually look like that, so it’s a challenge.
One recent call was from a big bank. The person said their managing partner said, “Do whatever it takes to get PE guy here with that face.” I told them I can’t do that, and the guy suggested that they make a mask.
People are loving it. I’ve made 250 personalized videos in 6 weeks. I recently launched a T-shirt, and we’re making a hat for people asking for merch.
I’ve been really surprised by the number of older men in finance who’ve reached out. I’ve made a ton of Cameos for people’s retired parents. A friend told me their dad loves my videos. I’ve had people tell me their whole office is talking about it.
Simon Simard for BI
You’re a trainer at Barry’s. Has PE guy ever come up in your day job?
People will come up to me and say they work with people like this. Or say, “Oh my god, this is my husband. He always talks about his Rolex.”
But it hasn’t come up negatively in any way, even for the business itself. Barry’s is owned by private equity, and I haven’t gotten in any trouble yet.
PE guy is incredibly braggadocious and smug. Is there a broader critique of the industry?
There may have been a subconscious critique, but I didn’t set out to call anyone out.
My husband is an oral surgeon. He previously worked at a private practice that was purchased by a private equity company, and I heard firsthand how this was affecting the staff and the surgeons.
I’ve since learned that private equity has its paws in a lot of things. I’ve seen it with different businesses and products that I love.
As I’ve learned more, I’ve wondered if this was a subconscious thing for me. Without being like “eat the rich,” I’m learning that people feel like private equity is removing the middle class in this country. It wasn’t intentional, but it has turned into a bit of a vent sesh about the state of business in this country.
Have you heard from anyone offended by PE guy?
There are probably people who work in private equity who see it and think it’s not funny. But so far, knock on wood, no one has felt hurt enough to reach out and say, “You’re hurting our feelings, or you’re hurting my managing partner’s feelings.”
It’s been more like women reaching out and saying, “This is literally my ex. Do you know him by chance?”
I suspect that someone who’s like the character would not find it funny, but I haven’t heard from them. And if they feel like “Is this me?” maybe I’m making the world a better place. Maybe next time they’re at a wedding, they won’t ram that stuff down someone’s throat.
I was speaking to someone in PE who was wondering how you get your specific references, especially for your city videos.
In the beginning, I picked cities where I had friends. Some of my friends’ husbands work in PE. I’d also Google things, like “What is the most expensive country club in San Francisco?”
There were misses here or there, and people would comment: “You’d never go to Wee Burn Country Club if you lived in Greenwich.”
Now it’s crowdsourced. I’m not even asking for it, but people will say, “Hey, if you do Nashville, include this, this, and this.” They’ll send me three paragraphs of stuff. I’m working on Nashville later today.
Let’s discuss the face filter. I’ll be honest: The first time I saw it, I thought it was real. Can you tell me how you landed on it?
I had posted a video of an iguana, and someone commented, “That’s actually the North American whatever Iguana, and they’re known for swimming.” So I used this filter to make a video making fun of that person.
After the Iguana video, I kept using that filter to play know-it-alls, which eventually morphed into PE Guy.
Simon Simard for BI
The wardrobe is also really well done. Is this how you dress?
The hats have all been gifted to me by people who work in PE or companies that want to sell stuff. They’re hoping someone will ask me where it’s from. And people are doing that, which is crazy because before this, I never had anyone on the internet say, “I want what you’re wearing.”
Is there a specific video you’re especially proud of, or that you have a deeper connection to?
I’m from Chicago, and I literally used my hometown and the country club that I grew up going to in that video. I was nervous to post it and offend someone, but I also feel pressure to make them good. Then I post, and 10 minutes later, there are a bunch of comments saying it’s my best one yet.
I may be most proud of one I made when visiting my mom in Florida, and I randomly talked about my son and blurted out that his name was Tarantino. I’m proud it stuck.
There’s also this storyline where his wife hangs out with the tennis pro a lot, and he’s oblivious to the fact that they’re probably hooking up. I’m proud every time there’s an evolution of the character that came out of nowhere.