He is one of the scummiest tech influencers around. He was great at the start, but as time went on, he became increasingly worse. As his channel grew, he started focusing far more on 'entertainment' while neglecting actual, useful information.
I'm sure everyone knows the controversies about him and his channel, but I'll still talk about them.
He and other massive YouTube channels sponsored Honey, a malicious extension. He knew that the extension was suspicious but said nothing for so many years; he just stopped sponsoring it. Massive thanks to MegaLag for talking about this extension, here's the link.
There are a lot of errors in their benchmarks. Gamers Nexus made an amazing video about this and other issues. They have so many errors because the testing is rushed. This is mainly Linus's fault, as he forces his team to produce a massive amount of content just to make more money.
The reviews are biased. It's clearly biased because the company that sent the product also sponsored them. Not only do they have to sign NDAs in order to review products before they hit the market, but they also have an incentive to speak positively so the company doesn't blacklist them in the future. I know that almost every big YouTuber does this, but I don't think they should, and it doesn't result in a fair review.
He didn't want to increase his old friends/employees pay or solve their complains, saying that's how capitalism works.
He bought a private jet. A lot of his employees are poorly paid, and some of them barely get by. On top of that, he tries to justify it by saying that he got the plane for '$0' and that it's actually cheaper using his 'girl math.' In reality, that plane costs an average of $6.6M to purchase, plus $1.5 million to $2.5 million annually in operating costs.
He has many more problems and controversies. I don't know how he has so many 'fans' and why people still watch and support him. He's a scummy, narcissistic, and greedy person, creating videos where he forces his underpaid employees to work on his home.
LINKS:
MegaLag - Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam
Gamers Nexus - The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility
Head Pluck - A perfectly balanced mouse review. (Pwnage x Shortcircuit / LTT Edit)
Vex - Linus has a WEIRD Problem
Linnus Tech Tips - The Gamer Jet is Real! and it Cost $0*, The Highest PC Build EVER - World Record
Some creative folks eventually want to do their own thing and no amount of money will change their mind. It is very authoritarian to try to use money as a form of control over others. Linus is many things but he is not a petty tyrant.
He refused to increase the salaries of employees. He would rather see his old friends go then give them more and actually listen to them.
jakkuh - Why I left Linus Tech Tips
I remember that video -- seems like a nice and genuine dude. It's sad that growing up with a small company like that doesn't give you more growth you know? Especially when Linus is doing so well. I know there are complexities and all that but still.
Using a quote from ChicoSuave above correctly:
Because Linus did become a petty tyrant. If the workplace was democratic and not authoritarian, under Linus's control, pretty sure all those people would've pushed for better compensation, and their peers probably would have too.
And this is quite literal, since Linus famously has no friends outside of work
Also: overpaying employees to keep them working for you == tyrant.
So what does underpaying employees while demanding massive output make you?
Sure, but some of them are leaving and just doing more tech stuff that they’ve always done.
How hard would it have been to just keep them on, give them a budget to make the videos they want to make, reduce the requirements on them to produce the modern LTT content and keep all that deep expertise in-house?
expect he is litterally a petty tyrant? The reason over half of them left was explictedly because he was a petty tyrant and he even tried to fuck a bunch of them over with legal threats