Linus Sebastian

Linus Gabriel Sebastian (born August 20, 1986) is a Canadian YouTuber best 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 15.7 million subscribers and 7.89 billion views as of July 2024. His channels have a combined subscriber base of over 27 million and over 10.5 billion views.

From 2007 to 2013, he was a regular presenter of technology videos for the now defunct Canadian computer retailer NCIX. He is also the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Linus Media Group (LMG). On July 1, 2023, Sebastian stepped down as LMG's CEO, and took the role as Chief Vision Officer.

Biography
Linus Gabriel Sebastian was born on August 20, 1986, and grew up in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. He grew up on a farm with siblings and has been married to Yvonne Ho since May 20, 2011.

Sebastian used to work for the now-defunct Canadian online computer store NCIX. He was asked by the company to be the host for its technology channel, which was created to help demonstrate products. Sebastian was assisted by an unidentified cameraperson and editor, and worked with limited resources, shooting videos with a camera borrowed from the son of the company's president.

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. Linus Tech Tips was created on November 24, 2008. 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.



In a 2014 interview with technology startup website Tech.co, Sebastian said that his favourite YouTubers were TotalBiscuit, Marques Brownlee, and Austin Evans.

In September 2021, Sebastian disclosed a personal investment of nearly $225,000 in Framework Computer, a manufacturer of modular laptops.

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. 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.

Prior to the above scandal, Sebastian had announced in May 2023 that he would be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer at Linus Media Group and that he would be transitioning into a creative role entitled Chief Vision Officer effective July 1, 2023.

Recognition
In 2015, Inc. magazine ranked Sebastian fourth in a list of the "Top 30 Power Players in Tech".