By any measure, Linus Tech Tips is one of the most successful YouTube channels in the world with more than 16 million subscribers and 8 billion views. But what Linus Sebastian has built goes far beyond a channel. It’s a diversified, vertically integrated media company—one that continues to grow in scale, influence, and sustainability.
In a detailed (and very on-brand) video posted to the Linus Tech Tips channel this week, Linus and his team broke down exactly how their business made money in 2024. While they no longer disclose exact revenue figures, the percentage split reveals how the business has evolved over the last 8 years.
Merch
The single largest source of revenue in 2024 was LTTStore.com, which accounted for 55% of total revenue—up from just 15% in 2020. That growth has been driven by product innovation, fulfillment efficiency, and sheer scale.
“Back then, two of our biggest product families didn’t exist yet—hand tools and bags—which now make up about half the revenue,” the team explained in the video.
LMG even flipped the model—going from being sponsored to becoming a sponsor themselves. “We recently flipped the script and went from sponsor to sponsorer, choosing some of our favorite creators to show off all of our products,” said COO Nick Light.
AdSense: Share Shrinking, Revenue Growing
AdSense made up a smaller percentage of revenue in 2024 than in previous years—down from 26% in 2020. But that’s not a decline in performance; it’s a reflection of how fast other areas of the business are growing.
“Just because it’s a smaller percentage does not mean that it’s less money,” said another team member. “It means that LMG is far less reliant on our Google overlords than we used to be.”
61.5% of YouTube revenue came from traditional ads, while 37.3% came from YouTube Premium—despite Premium users only making up 29% of views. Shorts, by comparison, underperformed: one 13-million-view short earned just $1,300.
LMG’s top channels for AdSense were the main Linus Tech Tips channel (76%), ShortCircuit, and TechLinked.
Sponsors
Sponsorships made up 21% of total revenue in 2024, broken down into:
- 9% from in-video ad reads
- 12% from fully sponsored videos
LMG now works with over 150 sponsors across 13 categories. PC parts made up 34.6% of sponsor revenue, followed by SaaS (25.5%) and lifestyle brands (13.6%).
“A sponsor can buy airtime on our channel, but they can never buy our opinion,” Linus said. “And if a sponsor doesn’t like it, we’ll just drop them—like we’ve dropped so many others.”
Floatplane
Floatplane, LMG’s proprietary paid video platform, contributed 7% of revenue—up 1% from the year before. Despite subscriber losses after the August 2023 “great reset,” the platform bounced back thanks to stronger exclusive content and new offerings like 4K video and event access.
“You are the boss… when you choose to directly support us on Floatplane,” Linus told viewers.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing brought in 3% of revenue. These are links typically found in video descriptions or on LMG’s websites that generate a commission when users make a purchase.
From Scrappy Creator to Scaled Operator
What makes Linus’s story so compelling is how deliberately he’s built LMG from the start.
“Unlike most creators that I meet, I was never a one-man show—not even for one day,” Linus told Colin and Samir in a December 2024 interview. “I always had someone operating a camera, operating a timeline—usually both.”
In the early years, money was tight: “We almost ran out of money… If I didn’t nail things, we just wouldn’t have had money to pay paychecks. I had what I called the one-take policy.”
Today, the company employs over 100 people. Linus has stepped back from daily operations (he hired a CEO in 2023), but remains deeply involved in scripting, creative direction, and writing.
“If there’s anything that I am as a creative, I would say it’s that I’m a writer… My canvas is a blank sheet of paper.”
Even as the business has matured, its core philosophy hasn’t changed. “The audience is the boss,” Linus said. “And it’s the hardest boss in the world.”
A great case study for the Creator Economy
What Linus has built is far beyond the “solo creator + AdSense” model. It’s an independent media company with:
- Owned IP
- A direct-to-consumer merch line
- A proprietary subscription platform
- Multi-channel ad revenue
- Production-for-hire capabilities
- And a highly engaged community
As an investor in creator-led businesses, I’ve seen firsthand how this model of vertical integration and audience alignment can scale and is exactly the kind of structure we aim to build with the creators we partner with. I believe the next great media brand won’t come from Hollywood—it’ll be built by creators who follow this playbook.