"And if you're one of "PE Guy's" devoted Instagram or TikTok followers, you just read that in his gratingly smarmy voice and envisioned his oh so punchable face. "Literally. His face is so punchable," Johnny Hilbrant Partridge, aka PE Guy - that's private equity - tells me with a laugh from his home in Wellesley. That smug face is a Snapchat filter."
"Because you know this guy or you've met this guy or always get stuck talking to this guy. Maybe you've dated this guy or you work for this guy (or you are this guy), and you are here for his roast. He serves up eat-the-rich humor that we "normies," as PE Guy would put it, are salivating for - especially these days."
Johnny Hilbrant Partridge is a Wellesley-based fitness instructor who created the PE Guy persona to parody private equity types. The persona uses a smug voice, a Snapchat filter, and exaggerated wealthy-dude mannerisms to lampoon elitist behavior. The character's short video jokes include lines about summering, luxury shoes, specialty coffee, and celebrity business acumen. The persona went viral in 2025, growing from unknown to a substantial Instagram and TikTok following and receiving mainstream attention, including Business Insider. The persona attracted the same demographic it mocks and helped Partridge build a platform. Partridge is preparing to launch a PE Guy podcast.
Read at Boston.com
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