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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | October 3, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-03)[1] inSurrey, British Columbia, Canada |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , Canada |
Key people | |
Number of employees | 79 (as of October 2024)[2] |
| Divisions | LTT Labs |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | linusmediagroup |
Linus Media Group Inc. (LMG) is aprivately held Canadian digital media entertainment company with a focus on technology, founded byLinus Sebastian and Yvonne Ho in 2012. The companyowns and operates several technology-orientedYouTube channels and podcasts, most notablyLinus Tech Tips (LTT), as their production agency and distributor.[3] Linus Tech Tips was later developed into aninternet forum on January 2, 2013.[4]
LMG's other channels, includingTechquickie,TechLinked,ShortCircuit, andGameLinked have amassed a total of 26.39 million subscribers, resulting in 9.16 billion video views between them.
After ten years as theCEO, Sebastian stepped down effective July 1, 2023, replaced by Terren Tong. Sebastian and his wife, Yvonne Ho, remain the owners, and Sebastian transitioned tochief visionary officer.[5][6][7]
British Columbia nativeLinus Sebastian and several others launched Linus Media Group in January 2013 out of a garage,[8] while the company was incorporated in October 2012.[1]
Previously, Sebastian worked for the now-defunct Canadian online computer retailerNCIX and later on was a host for the retailer's online video content.[9] Due to high production costs, rising brand partner demands, and relatively low viewership during the early days ofNCIX Tech Tips, Sebastian was instructed to create theLinus Tech Tips channel as a cheaper offshoot of the NCIX channel, to allow for lower production values without affecting the NCIX brand. He describedTigerDirect andNewegg as competitors.[10]Linus Tech Tips was created on November 24, 2008[11] and the first video for the channel was uploaded the following day.[12] Seeing the opportunity in online content creation, Sebastian eventually left NCIX and founded LMG following a dispute regarding company management.[13][14] He negotiated an agreement in which he could keepLinus Tech Tips as a property of LMG for $1, as long as he signed a long-term agreement to help build an in-house NCIX video team, signed a two-yearnon-compete clause, and continued to host videos for NCIX at a rate described by him as "very bargain-basement" for two years.[14]
Within two years of its establishment, in 2014,Tubefilter namedLinus Tech Tips as being within the "top 1% of Google's preferred advertising channels" on YouTube for the technology category.[15]
On November 17, 2021, Sebastian announced the creation of LTT Labs,[16] a division dedicated to testing the validity of manufacturer claims.[17]
On March 23, 2023,Linus Tech Tips,TechLinked, andTechquickie were hacked and subsequently terminated due to a security breach.[18] The hackers changed the channel names, changing the main channel name toTesla and started broadcasting two identical live streams which appeared to showdeepfakes ofElon Musk,Jack Dorsey, and others having a conversation aboutEthereum,GPT-4, and other topics.[19] The hackers also unlisted many videos and later re-published them as well as uploaded videos with titles that stated "DONOTUPLOAD" and subsequently changed the name toLinusTechTipsTemp to seem more legitimate.[20] Sometime before 11:51 am UTC, all hacked channels were terminated,[21] although it is unclear if it was by the hackers or by YouTube. Around 3 pm UTC, Sebastian published a message on Floatplane, saying that he had everything "locked down" and that he is working with Google to get everything reinstated.[22] At approximately 3 am UTC, all hacked channels were reinstated, with most unauthorised changes reverted some time later. A video was later published on theLinus Tech Tips channel about the incident explaining that an employee had downloaded aTrojan horse in the guise of aPDF file from a seemingly legitimate sponsor email, allowing asession hijacking attack.[23]
On May 18, 2023, Sebastian announced that he would be stepping down as chief executive officer and itssubsidiaries, and would be transitioning into a creative role entitledChief Vision Officer, effective July 1, 2023. Terren Tong, previously an executive ofCorsair Gaming and whom Sebastian worked under during his time at NCIX, was named to replace Sebastian as CEO. In the announcement, Sebastian mentioned he had received a buyout offer for the company from an unnamed entity, valuing it at around $100 million. Sebastian declined the offer.[24][25][26][27]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
On June 24, 2023,Linus Tech Tips uploaded a video demonstrating a prototype dualwater block from Billet Labs.[28] The video involved Linus and fellow LMG employee Adam Sondergard testing the block with aGeForce RTX 4090graphics card, even though the unit had been specifically designed for theGeForce RTX 3090 Ti. Sondergard advised that they re-test the block using a 3090 Ti; however, Sebastian decided to publish the video of testing with the 4090, justifying this by saying that re-testing would not change the outcome of the video. Sebastian concluded that the dual design had no advantages and criticized the building experience, saying that consumers should not buy the product.[citation needed]
The demonstration led to a video fromGamersNexus, a tech YouTube channel, in whichGamersNexus editor-in-chief Steve Burke stated thatLinus Tech Tips had sold the prototype during a silent charity auction at LTX 2023 without the consent of Billet Labs (who had sent the prototype to LMG not expecting a return). More broadly,GamersNexus accusedLinus Tech Tips of "rushing content out the door" and tarnishing its "accuracy, ethics, and responsibility". They cited a number of videos in whichLinus Tech Tips had made mistakes which in the eyes of GamersNexus were corrected in an insufficient manner, or not at all.[29][30]
Sebastian made a written response toGamersNexus, saying that the company had experienced "growing pains" and would strive to increase the quality of their work in the future, but he defended not retesting the prototype with the proper graphics card as he saw that it would not improve the results and called the product an "egregious waste of money." Burke criticized this response as "unhinged" and "unapologetic." Burke's criticism and conflict of interest to Sebastian himself was criticised on his own channel and onReddit.[31] Linus Media Group later agreed to compensate Billet Labs for the cost of the prototype.[citation needed]
A video featuring Sebastian, CEO Terren Tong, and CFO Yvonne Ho was later published to theLinus Tech Tips channel on August 16, 2023, apologizing for the handling of the prototype water block along with their response to the situation. In the video, Linus Media Group also announced a week-long video production pause, which actually lasted ten days,[32][33] while changes were made at the company.[34] The apology video was criticized for being monetized as well as featuring jokes about sponsorships and links to the channel's store page. The video was demonetized by Linus Media Group following the criticism.[31][35] The store page was also linked in the video's description, butDexerto noted that this could have been automated by YouTube and not purposefully placed. In response to a comment on Floatplane, Linus Media Group's video sharing platform, suggesting the jokes be removed, Sebastian responded through theLinus Tech Tips account, saying that "We won't be able to make everyone perfectly happy, so what we're going to do is be ourselves—the best version of ourselves—and move past this", and asked "Is a little humor a bad thing...? Honest question".[36]
On August 16, 2023, former Linus Media Group employee Madison Reeve, who was previously hired after appearing in aLinus Tech Tips video with Sebastian for winning a competition and left the company in late 2021, alleged within aTwitter thread of ahostile work environment while she worked at the company, including instances ofassault,sexism, and other inappropriate conduct. She was reportedly scolded for taking sick days, which drove her to commitself-harm, because she saw it as "the only way in my mind to take a day off without being harassed for a reason why".[37][31]
Reeve said that she did not previously make these allegations public, because she "feared even more backlash from a community that was already attacking,defaming, and sending [her]death threats", and that her experience has been "eating away at [her] for 2 years." According to Reeve, the company suffered from problems with "ego and the bottom line" and that there was an "internal paranoia" about employees leaving the company and setting up their own content creation platforms.[38][39][34][31]
In an email toThe Verge, Linus Sebastian said that Reeve's allegations "aren't consistent with [his] recollections", but said that Linus Media Group'shuman resources department would be conducting an internal review. In an additional comment, CEO Terren Tong said that along with the internal review of the allegations, the company would be hiring an outside investigator and publish its findings.[34] The company published the outside investigator's findings in a statement in May 2024, stating the third-party investigator found the allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, abuse of power and retaliation were not substantiated. Allegations of process errors and miscommunication while onboarding Reeve were partially substantiated.[40][41][42]
In September 2024,Linus Tech Tips had its video "De-Google Your Life – Part 2: Ad-Free YouTube!", the second part of a series on decreasing reliance on Google, removed for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines.[43][44] In the removed video,ad-blocking tools to avoid ads and tracking, alternatives to YouTube, and tools to watch YouTube's videos without ads were discussed.[43]Linus Tech Tips later released a video stating that "De-Google Your Life – Part 2: Ad-Free YouTube!" was removed for "harmful or dangerous content", which applied to "content that violates YouTube's Terms of Service, or that encourages others to do", including "content that provide[d] instructions about how to download YouTube videos in an unauthorised manner".[44][non-primary source needed][45][non-primary source needed] As this was their first Community Guidelines strike, the channel did not suffer any additional sanctions.[46]Louis Rossmann criticised Google for punishingLinus Tech Tips for promoting tools and software that protect user privacy but hurt Google's business, and implied that the action might signal anti-competitive behavior by Google.[43][47]
On November 14, 2024,Mac Address,Techquickie andGamelinked each announced that their channel was going on hiatus for an indeterminate amount of time.[48][non-primary source needed][49][non-primary source needed][50][non-primary source needed]
Currently, LMG is headquartered inSurrey, British Columbia, Canada.[51] As of July 2025,[update] it has over 100 employees.[52]
The company has several subsidiaries:
| Name | Incorporation date | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| LTX Expo Inc. | January 21, 2020[53] | Used to handle the LTX Expo, an annual summer event which LMG has hosted since 2017. It is described as a "convention featuring tech-focused content creators and personalities".[54] |
| Creator Warehouse Inc. | September 17, 2018[55] | Merchandise company founded by Sebastian that creates and sells LMG branded merchandise, tools and affiliate products through its own dedicated website, LTTstore.com.[56] |
| Floatplane Media Inc.[i] | April 3, 2017[57] | Online streaming service founded by Sebastian that offers creators a platform to upload and monetize their content. One of its main selling points is its support for higherbit rate compared to YouTube. All videos are behind a paywall.[58][59] |
On November 24, 2011,Linus Tech Tips uploaded a videounboxing a remote-controlfire truck sourced by aheat sink manufacturer,[60][61] which had become the most viewed video on the channel in January 2017 with 7 million views since being uploaded,[62] and the second most viewed video on the channel in June 2020 with 11 million views since being uploaded.[60]
On January 2, 2016,Linus Tech Tips released a video demonstrating a computer capable of supporting seven individual users at once, with an estimated total cost of $30,000.[62][63] The video made technology news on a number of websites.[64][65][66]
In August 2017, theLinus Tech Tips channel uploaded a two part video where they were able to game at16K resolution (15360 by 8640 pixels) using sixteen 4K monitors in a 4 by 4 configuration.[67]
In April 2018, theLinus Tech Tips channel uploaded a video claiming thatApple refused to repair Sebastian'siMac Pro afterLinus Tech Tips staff damaged it in a product teardown,[68] a refusal thatVentureBeat speculated is illegal.[69]
In December 2018,Linus Tech Tips released a four-part series detailing their experience buying a gaming PC from 6systems integrators representing 3 different market tiers.[70] The series has gained over 12 million views and was covered inPC Gamer.[70]
In 2021,Linus Tech Tips released a three-part series showing the process of making an 18-carat gold Xbox Series Xcontroller. The first video showed the prototyping, the second the making of the gold shells, and the third the reactions of employees at their headquarters.[71][72]
In May 2025,Linus Tech Tips released a video where they calculated 300 trillion digits ofPi with the help ofKioxia andy-cruncher, breaking the world record for digits of Pi calculated.[73] The project took about a year to complete, with the first calculation starting in August 2024 and the calculation finishing in April 2025.[74]
| Channel | Status | Description | Subscribers[ii] | Views[ii] | Videos[ii] | Creation date | Main Host(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linus Tech Tips | Active | Flagship channel; long-form technology-related videos and LMG's weekly long form podcast,The WAN Show. | 16.3 million | 8.61 billion | 7,260 | November 25, 2008 | Linus Sebastian |
| Techquickie | Inactive(hiatus sinceNovember 29, 2024)[49][75] | Short-form technology-related videos.[70] | 4.33 million | 904 million | 1,270 | January 15, 2012(first video uploaded onJanuary 6, 2013)[76] | Various |
| Channel Super Fun | Active | Miscellaneous videos andgame show–esque challenges[77] | 1.27 million | 381 million | 194 | May 28, 2014 | Dennis Liao |
| TechLinked | Active | Technology and gaming news, produced thrice-weekly; also a podcast[78] | 1.93 million | 566 million | 1,085 | May 3, 2018 | Riley Murdock |
| LMG Clips | Active | Highlight clips from their popular videos and livestreams[79] | 586 thousand | 290 million | 1,985 | September 21, 2019 | N/A |
| They're Just Movies[iii] | Inactive(hiatus sinceDecember 30, 2022)[80][81][82] | Film-related vlogcast and podcast | 140 thousand | 4.73 million | 161 | December 20, 2019 | James Strieb, Riley Murdock, David Gauthier |
| ShortCircuit | Active | Technology-relatedunboxings[83] | 2.37 million | 623 million | 952 | January 24, 2020 | Various |
| Mac Address | Inactive(hiatus sinceNovember 30, 2024)[48][75] | Apple-related videos, hosted by Jonathan Horst.[84] | 617 thousand | 130 million | 122 | January 26, 2021(first video uploaded onApril 16, 2021)[85][86] | Jonathan Horst |
| GameLinked | Inactive(hiatus sinceNovember 13, 2024)[50][75] | Gaming news videos, produced twice-weekly. | 478 thousand | 33.1 million | 154 | July 22, 2022(first video uploaded onJune 29, 2023)[87] | Riley Murdock |
| PSU Circuit | Active | Standardized analytical insights into power supplies | 33.9 thousand | 124 thousand | 29 | February 29, 2024(first video uploaded onMay 24, 2024)[88] | AI Hosted |
So I left, partly because I saw a great opportunity in content creation online, and partly because I had some significant, fundamental disagreements with senior management, particularly the owner, over what exactly we needed to do in terms of our direction as a company.
The number of daily items the Social media role at the time was expected to fill was incredibly high.{{Cite tweet}}: Invalid|number= (help)
But what we're learning as we have scaled to a hundred, over a hundred, back under a hundred, and then now over a hundred over the course of the last like 3 years, where we haven't really grown in headcount at all, is that the communication and process challenges associated with crossing this threshold...is painful.
