Spoofing rich-guy speak, local Johnny Hilbrant’s PE Guy is cracking up the internet

Johnny Hilbrant has always wanted to make people laugh.

Hilbrant, a Winnetka native and New Trier High School alumnus, has been active on social media for as long as he can remember, making funny videos for his friends and family. 

“I have always tried to make people laugh in my real life, and then on social media,” Hilbrant said. “So I’ve always used social media more as a tool to make people laugh versus a place to be, like, ‘Day in my life’ (or) ‘Look at this pretty beach picture.’”

But to say, his reach has expanded is an understatement. Hilbrant has amassed more than 334,000 followers on Instagram and more than 92,000 on TikTok with his online persona PE Guy.

Hilbrant created PE Guy, or Private Equity Guy, in March 2025. At the time, he said only had about 7,000 Instagram followers. His first video went viral, and since then, he’s posted a video nearly every day.

Becoming PE Guy

Sometimes PE Guy brags about his Nantucket estate, sometimes he’s a dad at his spoiled kids’ soccer games, sometimes he’s at the office. 

Regardless of the scenario, PE Guy displays combinations of arrogance, pretension and irritation while discussing his wealthy lifestyle in hyper-specific detail.

Prior to becoming PE Guy, Hilbrant attended a number of weddings where he kept running into people bragging about their wealth. Fed up with their behavior, Hilbrant explained in a recent video, he created PE Guy to satirize the experience. 

“We are living in a time right now where I feel like so many people are trying to connect with each other in the wrong ways, and I think that PE Guy is trying to connect with people in the wrong way,” Hilbrant said.

While Hilbrant intends for his content to get a laugh out of his audience, he does hope the meaning goes further too. 

“I hope that people can laugh at it, but I hope they can also go, ‘Is that me?’” he said. “I hope it creates a change.” 

Many of Hilbrant’s video ideas, he said, come from his followers. 

Hilbrant believes his followers would probably be surprised at the diversity of his following, saying he has observed followers of every identity, age and even political ideology.

“I know it spans everybody, so I think it’s the fact that I can make that many people of so many different backgrounds and stuff come together and laugh about the same thing is important,” Hilbrant said.

Defining his own success

Hilbrant said he has never been “traditionally successful,” at least in the eyes of his peers who work desk jobs. His friends often viewed him as “the funny friend.”

Before he was PE Guy, Hilbrant was a fitness instructor. He also worked in operations for a wellness company.

“I always did the right thing for myself,” Hilbrant said. “I always knew putting (myself) at a bank behind a desk, behind a computer would be … wrong.”

While PE Guy is fictional, Hilbrant has adapted some of the character’s entrepreneurial traits. Content creating is now his full-time job.

On Hilbrant’s website, he sells hats and hoodies with his signature catchphrases — like “Decent” and “Substantial” — and even customizable video Cameos. 

His consistent posting has gotten him millions of views and multiple brand deals ranging from finance companies to menswear stores. 

“(Being PE Guy) taught me that working hard and success can come to you in a way that you would never have imagined,” Hilbrant said. “ … You can kind of play in that field, in that sandbox, with those people in such a different way.”

Hilbrant has been PE Guy for more than a year now, and he has no plans to stop as long as he’s having fun. He said he will continue the character until “the internet stops liking (PE Guy).”

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A post shared by Johnny Hilbrant Partridge (@johnnyhilbrant)

Behind the filter

While PE Guy has a rather eccentric personality online, Hilbrant, who now lives in Boston, said his life outside of social media is much more simple. 

Behind the filter, he enjoys spending time at home with his husband, their newborn baby and their dogs.

“I take care of myself, take care of my home and my family, and I’m kind of like a simple guy in that way,” Hilbrant said. “ … I like to make people laugh, I love to watch funny movies, funny TV shows. I like to consume funny videos on the internet, ridiculous things, but it’s pretty simple. My life is pretty simple and laid back.”

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