Linus Gabriel Sebastian (born August 20, 1986) is a Canadian YouTuber, known for creating and hosting YouTube channels that cover technology. On November 24, 2008, he started publishing videos on his main channel Linus Tech Tips (LTT) which has 16 million subscribers and 8.27 billion views as of December 1, 2024.[21] His channels have a combined subscriber base of over 32.01 million[a] and over 11.04 billion views.[b]
Linus Gabriel Sebastian[25] was born on August 20, 1986,[26] and grew up in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.[27] He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.[28] He grew up on a farm with siblings[29] and has been married to Yvonne Ho since May 20, 2011.[30]
Career
Sebastian worked for the Canadian online computer store NCIX[31] and was asked to be the host for its technology channel, which was created to help demonstrate products.[32] Sebastian shot videos with a camera borrowed from the son of the company's president.[33]
Due to high costs and low viewership during the early days of the channel, Sebastian was instructed to create the Linus Tech Tips channel as a cheaper offshoot of the NCIX channel, to allow for lower production values without affecting the NCIX brand. He described TigerDirect and Newegg as competitors.[33]Linus Tech Tips was created on November 24, 2008.[34] He eventually left NCIX to found Linus Media Group (LMG) following a dispute regarding company management. He negotiated an agreement in which he could keep Linus Tech Tips as a property of LMG, as long as he signed a non-compete clause.[35]
In September 2021, Sebastian disclosed a personal investment of nearly $225,000 in Framework Computer, a manufacturer of modular laptops.[37]
In May of 2023 it was announced that Sebastian would be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Linus Media Group in July of 2023. He then transitioned into a creative role entitled Chief Vision Officer.[23][24]
In August 2023, a controversy emerged via an investigative video by YouTube creator Gamers Nexus, which described issues specific to both Sebastian as an individual, and of Linus Media Group as a whole.[38] The report detailed how Sebastian had negatively reviewed a prototype water block made by Billet Labs, despite installing it on hardware for which it was not designed. Sebastian also failed to return the water block to Billet Labs as agreed, instead auctioning it off. Systemic issues relating to rushed and inaccurate content were also highlighted. The company paused video production while it investigated the claims.[39][40][41]
Listicles
Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement
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