Patrick Bet-David (born October 18, 1978) is an Iranian-born American businessman, media personality, author and podcaster. A

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, he is the host of the ''PBD Podcast'' and ''Valuetainment'', which cover topics such as current events, business, and pop culture, commonly featuring celebrity guests. In 2009, he founded PHP Agency, a

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...

company selling life insurance and financial services.

Early life

Patrick Bet-David was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran, on October 18, 1978. He was born into a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family of Assyrian and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent. Bet-David and his parents left Iran as refugees during the Iran-Iraq War. In 1989, they spent time in a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, before eventually immigrating to the United States and settling in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. During his early adulthood, he lived a lifestyle which he has said was focused on partying before joining the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He claimed to have briefly worked as a

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

for a leading

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

dealer. This period, according to Bet-David, contributed to his worldview. Bet-David said that, after his time in the U.S. Army, he reconnected with a high school friend who re-introduced him to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Career

Early career

On September 10, 2001, Bet-David was hired as a financial advisor at the Glendale branch of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He later went on to work at Transamerica for nearly eight years.

Multi-level marketing agency

Bet-David founded PHP Agency in 2009, focusing on life insurance and financial services. The company, a

multilevel marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...

(MLM) organization, was acquired by Integrity, another MLM company, in 2022. Bet-David has faced criticism over his business practices, particularly regarding his insurance company, PHP. Prominent critics, including YouTuber

Coffeezilla Stephen Findeisen (born 1993 or 1994), better known as Coffeezilla, is an American YouTuber and cryptocurrency journalist who is known primarily for his channel in which he investigates and discusses online scams, usually surrounding cryptocurre ...

, have pointed to PHP as a prime example of an MLM scheme. In a three-hour interview with Bet-David, Coffeezilla showed filings according to which most of PHP's agents made virtually no money. Bet-David does not dispute this, but argues that other industries, such as real estate and insurance, also utilize MLM structures. A 2019 article in

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

argued that PHP Agency’s business model is more reliant on recruitment fees than on selling insurance products, and much of the company's income appears to come from fees paid by the recruits themselves. Critics, such as Douglas Brooks, an attorney specializing in multilevel marketing lawsuits, described the model as similar to a lottery, where only a few people succeed while the majority lose money.

Valuetainment

On November 9, 2012, Bet-David launched the Valuetainment channel on YouTube, which features commentary by Bet-David and interviews. A 2015 video entitled "The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds" went viral, significantly increasing his public profile. The platform eventually grew into a larger media company, which hosts conventions featuring speakers including

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

and

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

Political podcasts and interviews

As Valuetainment grew, Bet-David ventured into political commentary, launching the PBD Podcast, which hosts debates and interviews on American politics and cultural issues. On the podcast, Bet-David has interviewed guests including retired U.S. Secret Service agent Clint Hill,

Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi (; born 31 October 1960) is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran of the roughly 53-year old Pahlavi dynasty, and his third wife Farah Diba. He was officially named Pahlavi dynasty, Crown Prince of Pahla ...

, Bishop Mari Emmanuel,

Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family of New York City before becoming a government witness. As the underboss, Gravano played a majo ...

Stephen Baldwin Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July (film), Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse (1993 film), Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome (1994 ...

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

, and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. He has established himself as a staunch ally of Trump. Bet-David expressed skepticism about the 2020 U.S. presidential election results. In an interview with ''The Spectator'', he cited the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story on Twitter as evidence of election interference, framing his view as "Rigged Lite," similar to Tucker Carlson's position. In a July 2024 interview on ''Fox News'', Bet-David advised Donald Trump to return to 2016-style messaging, stating: "Trump needs to go back to 2016 speeches, sell me on the concept of the American Dream."

Reception

''Media Matters'' and ''MIT Technology Review'' have criticized Bet-David and his platform for promoting conspiracy theories and failing to challenge controversial guests. According to ''Media Matters'', his podcast has been a "safe space" for far-right figures to promote bigotry, including white nationalist rhetoric and anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories. ''MIT Technology Review'' noted that Bet-David interviewed anti-vaccine activists and promoters of

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...

, typically in a non-confrontational manner. Progressive commentator

Sam Seder Samuel Lincoln Seder (; born November 28, 1966) is an American actor, progressive political commentator, and media host. His works include the film '' Who's the Caboose?'' (1997) as well as the television shows ''Beat Cops'' (2001) and '' Pilot ...

remarked, "He and his crew have a pretty superficial understanding of even the things they purport to believe, so it was pretty easy for me to twist them in knots." An unnamed GOP insider told ''The Spectator'': "The guy is clearly not intelligent, but the same scammy, shameless, unethical attributes that make someone a successful mortgage shyster are also great for the media industry."

Books

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bet-David, Patrick 21st-century American non-fiction writers American people of Armenian descent American political commentators American political podcasters Armenian emigrants to the United States 1978 births Living people Santa Monica College alumni American people of Iranian-Assyrian descent Iranian Assyrian people Iranian Christians Iranian people of Armenian descent Businesspeople from Tehran Mass media people from Tehran American people of Iranian descent