PewDiePie is an institution. You don't even have to be into his content to know who and what he is. How did the Swede become so big on the internet? It's been a long time coming, but today is the day that our influencer bio series makes a stop at PewDiePie station. Here's the PewDiePie biography.
We could barely believe it ourselves, but we've already done a dozen of these and still haven't tackled one of the OG's in the game. The anomaly is being handled right here, right now. Here is the story of PewDiePie!
PewDiePie Biography: The Early Years
The hero of our story was born Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg in 1989. He was born and raised in Göteborg, Sweden, where he kept living for the most part until his YouTube career really took off.
Felix was interested in art and photography from an early age. Despite this, he enlisted at the Göteborg Chalmers University of Technology to study industrial economics and technology management.
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That part of his life was cut short in 2011, but contrary to popular belief, PewDiePie revealed years later that he did not leave university to pursue a YouTube career, "because that would have been very stupid". He did it simply because he did not see himself working in the field of technology.
PewDiePie Biography: Biggest YouTuber Ever
Felix Kjellberg has been on YouTube since 2006, when his channel was titled just PewDie. It was not until 2010 that he added "pie" at the end and became the behemoth we know now.
It's weird writing about this now, because so many people are doing it, but young Felix was an innovator a decade ago with his gameplay/reaction streams and videos. That wasn't a thing back then, and it's probably why he got so big for it and why millions of people are trying to do the same nowadays.
The PewDiePie channel and its Let's Play concept was growing like most on YouTube: It was a slow and steady growth over its first two years of existence. In 2012, that all changed. Thanks in large part to his Amnesia gameplay videos, PewDiePie grew in popularity seemingly overnight, breaking a different subscriber milestone almost every month.
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By August 2013, PewDiePie was the most subscribed YouTube channel. Each year since then PewDiePie has reportedly made at least $9 million before tax, or close to $100 million over an 8-year period. Here's a more detailed look at PewDiePie's net worth.
2013 is also the year that he moved in with his future wife Marzia: They found a home in Brighton and Hove, England. His reasoning for the move: being closer to the sea and having faster internet.
PewDiePie Biography: The Controversies
Being the biggest fish in the pond isn't always easy. All the little fish are trying to take you out. That explains why most, if not all of the drama surrounding PewDiePie over the years is someone claiming he's racist, sexist, anti-semitic and whatever other -isms you can think of.
Now, we are not supporting any of that. The man was at fault in some instances, as evidenced by an apology video or two being in his backlog. It's still rather admirable that a decade in the spotlight has led to nothing more than the inevitable cancel attempts over a word or a joke.
PewDiePie Biography: What's Next?
PewDiePie has 110 million subscribers on YouTube as of June 2021. Yes, he doesn't get 110 million views per video, but even 11 years after launch, his channel still brings in a few million views on each video. How could you keep a steady viewership for so long? By shaking up things.
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Long gone are the days where Felix would yell in front of a camera while playing a horror game. He has gone through a series of different formats, always ready to catch a trend and catch a following. It's rare that you can go to a single man's personal channel and be able to find such a variety of content.
While some are wondering which object to lick on next for some cash, others are creating entertaining content. That's how you stay relevant. That's how you make $9+ million a year.
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