Well-known tech YouTuber Linus Sebastian is hitting back after one of his former employees made a viral video saying they quit due to stagnant pay and shifts in company culture.
Linus Sebastian, better known by the name of his YouTube channel ‘Linus Tech Tips,’ has had enough of the drama surrounding himself and his company, Linus Media Group (LMG).
While the business was been hit with accusations of fostering a toxic work environment in 2024, issues arose once again in 2026 after a former staffer, Jake Tivy, uploaded a YouTube video detailing the reasons why he’d decided to quit.
Tivy said he felt undervalued as an employee, claiming his salary had remained the same over the course of three years despite the rising cost of living in his area, and claimed that LMG had refused to budge on his income.
“You kind of start thinking while you’re working on your boss’s third house, if you’re ever going to be able to buy a house,” he said, saying the workplace he’d signed on to had become something “completely different” by the time he chose to resign.
Linus Tech Tips fires back at former employee’s viral video
Linus issued a series of responses to the video a week later, starting with a tweet he wrote on February 6 that linked out to a YouTube video.
“Why I Left Linus Media Group. New video on my personal channel,” he wrote, alongside an image of a thumbnail showing himself waving to the camera with the caption, ‘It’s time.’
However, the link actually goes out to a classic ‘Rickroll’ video with the misleading title of ‘Cute Little Puppy Doing Cute Things.’ Linus was clearly mocking Tivy’s video, something he doubled down on in multiple responses to his post.
“Linus – I’m curious if you’re concerned this could be construed highly negatively considering the VERY respectful and emotional videos posted by some of your more popular recent departures,” one user commented.
“I’m curious if you’re concerned that you might not be that fun at parties,” he retorted.
“Linus is lowkey slowly not giving a f*ck anymore,” another said.
“I checked my wallet. I checked my bank account. I checked all three of my houses. There were no f*cks left in any of them,” Linus replied.
As previously mentioned, this isn’t the first time Linus and LMG have been at the center of controversy. In 2024, a former employee accused Linus Media Group of fostering a toxic workplace and claimed they’d been sexually assaulted by other staffers, allegedly enduring bullying and inappropriate behavior.
A third-party investigation was later conducted into the matter by Vancouver-based law firm Roper Greyell, who deemed that the staffer’s claims of alleged workplace bullying and sexual harassment “were not substantiated.”
