Who is Sage Steele engaged to? All about controversial ex-ESPN host’s fiancé Dave Barbuto

Former ESPN host Sage Steele recently announced that she got engaged. The news has made headlines and brought the spotlight onto her future husband, Dave Barbuto.

On social media, Steele, 52, posted the news, saying she was “over the moon” and “so grateful.” She even tagged Barbuto in her announcement, giving many of her followers their first glimpse of him, and captioned:

"Sometimes it takes a while to find your person. Maybe even decades. But when you know, YOU KNOW."

Dave Barbuto is the current CEO of uBreakiFix by Asurion, an American tech repair and retail brand with over 780 locations across the United States and Canada.

According to an article by The River Nashville, he assumed the role in April 2021 and is responsible for overseeing the company’s operations, corporate teams, and franchise partnerships. Dave Barbuto completed his higher education at Creighton University in 1998.

uBreakiFix, which started in a single store in 2009 in Orlando, was run by the same founder and CEO, Justin Wetherill. After Asurion bought it in 2019, Dave Barbuto took over two years later. uBreakiFix is now in partnership with major companies, such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Samsung.

More about Dave Barbuto's early career and Sage Steele leaving ESPN

Barbuto began her career outside of the corporate world. He served eight years as an infantry officer in the US Army. When he returned from service, he worked in operations management for a large railroad company, CSX, before moving to a career in tech services.

According to the Financial Technology Report, Dave Barbuto talked about leadership qualities and training exercises that went haywire on a podcast in 2024, where he said:

"Whenever you’re pointing the finger at somebody else, you got three fingers pointing back."

Sage Steele’s engagement news comes at the end of a controversial year for her. Steele was at times the subject of controversy during her tenure at ESPN. Following a string of incidents in 2021, she was taken off the air, eventually suing the network.

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In 2023, another settlement was reached, and she left ESPN, saying she wanted more freedom to exercise her First Amendment rights, as per the New York Post.

Steele has stayed in the political realm and media since her departure from ESPN. Recently, she signed on as the first podcast host under Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios network and hosts The Sage Steele Show on YouTube.

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