David Schottenstein was born in the early 1980s and grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the prominent Schottenstein family, a well-known retail dynasty whose holdings include American Eagle Outfitters and Designer Brands (DSW). His father, Thomas Schottenstein, is a principal at the family’s Arshot Investment Corporation. The family is both extremely wealthy and philanthropic; for example, one of David’s uncles helped finance the widely used ArtScroll English Talmud. As of early 2023, David Schottenstein was reported to be 39 years old.
Schottenstein received his early education in Orthodox Jewish schools (yeshivas) across several cities. As a teenager, he attended yeshivas in Ohio, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, and even Venice, Italy. He was active in the NCSY Jewish youth organization, beginning with the Columbus, Ohio chapter. He later studied at a Chabad yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. From a young age, Schottenstein demonstrated an entrepreneurial inclination: at just 12 years old, he ran a small cigar-selling business out of his father’s office. During his teenage years, he also experimented with stock trading.
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | David Schottenstein |
| Net Worth (2026) | Not publicly disclosed; based on business exits and investments |
| Primary Income Sources | Entrepreneurship, startup exits, and venture capital investments |
| First Major Business | Founder of Astor & Black Custom Clothiers (2004) |
| Early Success | Grew Astor & Black from roughly $0.5 million to more than $20 million in revenue |
| Notable Exit | Sold majority stake in Astor & Black in 2011 in a multi-million-dollar deal |
| Major Brand | Co-founder and former CEO of Privé Revaux eyewear |
| Privé Revaux Valuation | Valued at more than $100 million after Safilo Group’s investment in 2020 |
| Units Sold | Privé Revaux sold more than 1 million pairs in its first year |
| Venture Capital Role | Co-founder of DSCN Capital, an early-stage investment fund |
| Key Investments | Mizzen+Main, Hillflint, OneWheel, Mellow, and Vugo |
| Tech Startup | Co-founder of Viewabill, a legal billing software platform |
| Awards | Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 |
| Legal Issue | Pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2022 and was sentenced in 2023 |
| Current Focus | Private investing, startup advising, and lower-profile business activity |
David Schottenstein Career
David Schottenstein is a Florida-based serial entrepreneur who has founded and led multiple consumer-focused businesses. A member of a prominent retail family, he built his own reputation by launching and scaling startups in custom apparel, eyewear and technology. His ventures have ranged from a custom men’s suit company to a direct-to-consumer eyewear brand backed by celebrities.
Over time, Schottenstein also became active in venture investing through his own fund. In the late 2010s he garnered attention for founding high-profile companies like Privé Revaux. In recent years he has faced legal challenges related to insider trading, which led to his resignation from one of his key businesses, but his career has been marked by notable exits and growth metrics.
Early Entrepreneurial Ventures and First Business Success
Schottenstein’s first major entrepreneurial success came in the mid-2000s when, as a young adult, he founded a custom men’s clothing business. In 2004, at about age 20, he launched Astor & Black Custom Clothiers after studying abroad in Italy and spotting demand for high-quality tailored suits.
He set up production with Hong Kong manufacturers and sold exclusively through a network of personal clothiers who visited clients for fittings. Within a few years the venture grew rapidly. By 2009, Astor & Black had developed an international clientele of executives and professional athletes, and was generating millions in annual sales.
The company’s innovative direct-sales model and value-driven pricing helped it stand out during a period when many apparel businesses struggled. Schottenstein’s leadership and growth trajectory in this period earned him recognition as a rising business figure.
Founding of Astor & Black and Business Exit
As founder and chief executive, Schottenstein led Astor & Black through its formative years. He positioned the company as a high-end custom menswear brand priced significantly below traditional luxury labels. By the late 2000s the company’s revenues had climbed into the multi millions.
In 2011 Astor & Black attracted a private equity investment: Castanea Partners acquired a majority stake in the business while Schottenstein remained CEO and retained a substantial ownership share. This transaction provided a significant financial payout to Schottenstein and allowed the company to expand. Shortly afterward, he stepped away from day-to-day management.
Under new ownership the firm moved its headquarters to Florida in 2012 (attracted by state incentives), but it struggled and ultimately declared bankruptcy in 2013, two years after Schottenstein had sold his stake. In interviews Schottenstein has noted that he left Astor & Black in 2011, after which he went on to start new companies. His exit from Astor & Black effectively worth tens of millions marked his first major successful business exit.
Privé Revaux: Building a Celebrity-Backed Brand
In 2017 Schottenstein turned his attention to the eyewear market. He co-founded Privé Revaux, a fashion eyewear brand, with a team of entertainment celebrities including Jamie Foxx, Ashley Benson, Hailee Steinfeld and actor Jeremy Piven.
The brand’s mission was to offer premium-style sunglasses and eyeglasses at affordable prices around $29.95 a pair. Schottenstein, serving as CEO, led Privé Revaux’s launch first as an online and direct-to-consumer business.
The company quickly signed retail distribution deals, selling through outlets such as Nordstrom, American Eagle Outfitters and Amazon, as well as department store pop-up shops and kiosks. Privé Revaux’s first-year sales exceeded expectations, reportedly moving more than one million pairs of frames.
Privé Revaux attracted significant outside investment. In mid 2018, roughly one year after launch, private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners took a large minority stake to fuel expansion. By early 2020, Italian eyewear giant Safilo Group acquired a controlling interest (61.34%) in Privé Revaux for about US$67.5 million, valuing the company at over $100 million.
Under Schottenstein’s direction, the brand expanded globally, entering Europe and the UK by mid 2020. He remained Privé Revaux’s CEO until January 2022. Following his guilty plea to an insider trading charge that month, he resigned from the company.
His remaining shares in Privé Revaux were transferred to Safilo, which increased its ownership to full control. During his tenure, Privé Revaux disrupted the eyewear industry by leveraging celebrity partnerships and aggressive pricing, and secured key deals such as distribution on Amazon that contributed to rapid growth in sales and brand recognition.
Other Business Ventures and Startup Investments
Beyond Astor & Black and Privé Revaux, Schottenstein has co-founded and backed several other startups. In 2012 he launched Swiss Stays, a men’s fashion accessory company known for an adjustable collar-stay product that fits any shirt.
Around the same time he co-founded Viewabill (initially called No Surprises Software), a tech startup offering a cloud-based legal-billing platform. Viewabill developed with attorney Robbie Friedman and academic Alan Dershowitz allows clients to track professional service fees in real time.
Schottenstein served as a founding executive of Viewabill after leaving his first company. In 2015 he co-founded DSCN Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Miami.
With partners Ben Nash and Eli Nash, Schottenstein invested in a portfolio of consumer and tech startups. DSCN Capital’s early investments included men’s apparel brand Mizzen+Main, collegiate apparel maker Hillflint, on-device advertising startup Vugo, and electronics maker PopSlate.
Other DSCN portfolio companies were the self-balancing skateboard OneWheel and the smart sous-vide cooker Mellow. He personally invested in ventures like Farm Hill, a healthy meal delivery service, and Mellow’s sous-vide appliance company.
Through these initiatives Schottenstein demonstrated a pattern of applying his retail and direct-sales experience to emerging consumer brands. He also operates a family investment vehicle sometimes called Schotty Capital targeting consumer goods companies.
As a private investor he has been reported to serve on boards or advise many startups in fashion, technology and consumer products, applying expertise gained from his own startup exits.
Key Achievements, Business Growth, and Financial Success
Throughout his career Schottenstein has garnered recognition and delivered strong business results. Early on, his work with Astor & Black earned him prestigious awards: in 2009 he was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for the South Central Ohio region, and in 2010 he was listed among Inc. magazine’s “30 Under 30” for young entrepreneurs.
Under his leadership, Astor & Black grew impressively, initial sales of roughly $0.5 million in the first year of business climbed to over $20 million within a few years. The company’s rapid growth and high-quality service model attracted a valuation that resulted in a sizeable exit when he sold majority ownership in 2011.
With Privé Revaux, Schottenstein again achieved fast growth. The brand’s strategy produced over one million eyewear sales in its first year. In 2020 the Safilo Group’s acquisition of a 61% stake for about $67 million implied a total company valuation around $110 million.
Privé Revaux’s expansion into international markets and partnerships with mass retailers under his watch reflect significant brand development. As an investor, several of Schottenstein’s portfolio companies also scaled substantially; for example, DSCN-backed startups secured follow-on funding at many times their initial valuations. These achievements underscore his ability to launch disruptive brands and create value in consumer markets.
Challenges, Legal Issues, and Controversies
In parallel with his business successes, Schottenstein faced serious legal challenges. In January 2022 he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud in a federal insider-trading case. Prosecutors alleged that between 2017 and 2019 he obtained material nonpublic information from family members and traded stock ahead of announced earnings and merger deals.
He reportedly netted over $600,000 in illicit profits and shared tips with friends. Schottenstein initially cooperated with investigators but later withdrew cooperation. In March 2023 a federal judge sentenced him to one year and one day in prison, plus supervised release, for the scheme which in total generated approximately $4.5 million for all participants.
These charges had immediate professional consequences. Schottenstein resigned as CEO of Privé Revaux in early 2022 after his guilty plea, and his equity interest in the company was transferred to the new majority owner.
The case attracted national media attention partly due to his family’s prominence in retail, and it also led to a related civil enforcement action by the SEC. Aside from the insider-trading matter, no other controversies or misconduct have been publicly reported in Schottenstein’s career.
He has since paid fines and penalties associated with the case and fulfilled his sentence, after which he completed a period of court supervision.
Current Business Activities and Entrepreneurial Focus
In recent years Schottenstein’s public role has shifted from frontline executive leadership to investment and advisory positions. After stepping down from Privé Revaux in 2022 and completing his sentence in 2023, he no longer holds operating executive titles in those companies.
He remains based in Florida and continues to engage with the startup community. Through DSCN Capital and his family investment office, he is involved in funding and mentoring early-stage consumer and retail ventures.
While he is no longer leading a high-profile consumer brand, he leverages his entrepreneurial experience by supporting new businesses behind the scenes. As of the mid-2020s, Schottenstein’s activities are focused on leveraging the lessons and networks built over his career to advise and invest in growing companies, even as he maintains a lower public profile than during his earlier startup days.
David Schottenstein Net Worth
As of 2026, David Schottenstein’s net worth has not been publicly disclosed, and no figure has been officially verified by major financial authorities. He has generated income through founding companies such as the eyewear brand Privé Revaux and the custom clothier Astor & Black, as well as through ventures including Swiss Stays and the legal billing software Viewabill. However, specific earnings from these ventures have not been made public.
FAQs
Who is David Schottenstein?
David Schottenstein is an American entrepreneur and investor known for founding consumer-focused businesses. He comes from the Schottenstein retail family but built his own ventures in apparel, eyewear, and technology.
What companies did David Schottenstein found?
He founded Astor & Black Custom Clothiers and co-founded Privé Revaux, a direct-to-consumer eyewear brand. He has also been involved in startups like Viewabill and Swiss Stays.
Why did David Schottenstein step down from Privé Revaux?
He resigned as CEO in 2022 after pleading guilty to insider trading charges. This led to a shift in company ownership and leadership.
What legal issues has David Schottenstein faced?
In 2022, he pleaded guilty to insider trading in a federal case. He was sentenced in 2023 to prison time, followed by supervised release and financial penalties.
What is David Schottenstein doing now?
He is currently focused on private investing and advising startups. His work is mainly through venture capital and family investment activities.
