Do we like Linus Sebastian?
Our score: 6 out of 10. No harmful words or company found, but a 2023 admitted blunder, workplace claims and a fresh pay row keep him in the middle.
Sebastian is the face of Linus Tech Tips, one of the biggest tech channels on YouTube, and the founder of Linus Media Group in Canada. By 2023 he had handed the CEO job to Terren Tong, which is why a lot of the drama since has been about how the business is run rather than the gadgets.
The big blow-up came in August 2023. Rival channel GamersNexus criticised the accuracy and ethics of a review where he put a prototype water block on the wrong graphics card, and Sebastian's first forum reply made it worse. He later called that response a “huge and unnecessary blunder”, and the company paused video production while it sorted its processes.
At the same time, a former social media manager alleged a sexist workplace, and other former staff alleged bullying. The company hired a Vancouver employment law firm, Roper Greyell, and in May 2024 said the investigation found the bullying and harassment claims were not substantiated and the claim that complaints were ignored was false. It is the company's own summary of a probe it paid for, and the full report wasn't published, so weigh that accordingly.
On the harm check, I searched his name against LGBTQ+, women, climate, vaccines, migrants and politics and found nothing from him that hurts anyone. That's a thin record rather than a glowing one, because he mostly talks hardware and not culture wars, and I found no sign he works with anyone pushing harm.
The February 2026 row is the freshest. A former staffer said his pay stood still for about three years while living costs rose. Sebastian replied on X with a fake “Why I Left” link that led to a Rickroll, and told one critic there were “no f***s left” in his wallet, bank account or houses. Funny to some, tone-deaf to others, and it's a long way from actually answering the pay question.
On the good stuff, I couldn't verify specific charity work or kind acts from sources I could open, so I won't invent any. What stands out is that he owns his mistakes in public, with a plain “I owe you guys better, and I'm sorry” in 2023. It's a decent habit, even if the 2026 reply shows he still gets prickly when his own pay practices are questioned.