Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( SHEL-burg; Swedish: [ˈfeːlɪks ²ɕɛlːˌbærj] ( listen); born 24 October 1989), known online as PewDiePie ( PEW-dee-py), is a Swedish YouTube personality and game commentator. He has been known for his Let’s Play commentaries and vlogs, as well as for having the most subscribed channel on YouTube.
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, PewDiePie originally pursued a degree in industrial economics and technology management at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. In 2010, during his time at the university, he registered a YouTube account under the name PewDiePie. The following year, he dropped out of Chalmers after losing interest in his degree field, much to the dismay of his parents. After failing to earn an apprenticeship with an advertising agency in Scandinavia, he then decided to focus on creating content for his YouTube channel. In order to fund his videos, PewDiePie began selling prints of his Photoshop art projects and working at a hot dog stand. PewDiePie soon gathered a rapidly increasing online following, and in July 2012, his channel surpassed one million subscribers.
Early on, PewDiePie was signed under the multi-channel network Machinima. After dissatisfaction with the network, he signed with Maker Studios, having his channel under Maker’s sub-networks Polaris and, later, Revelmode. Throughout his time on YouTube, PewDiePie has produced content that has been praised as genuine and unfiltered, but also been received as abrasive, and in some cases, met with controversy. As a result of an early 2017 controversy regarding allegations of anti-Semitism in several of PewDiePie’s videos, the Disney-operated Maker Studios ended their partnership with him, dropping him from their network. While he criticised the coverage of the situation and defended his content as jokes that were taken out of context, he conceded its offensiveness.
On 15 August 2013, PewDiePie became the most subscribed user on YouTube, being surpassed for a total of 46 days in late 2013 by YouTube Spotlight. Holding the position since 22 December 2013, the channel has 63 million subscribers as of June 2018. From 29 December 2014 to 14 February 2017, PewDiePie’s channel held the distinction of being the most viewed of all time, and as of June 2018, the channel has received over 18 billion video views.The prevailing nickname for PewDiePie’s fanbase is the “Bro Army”. Through his fanbase, PewDiePie has raised money for charities. Due to his popularity, PewDiePie’s coverage of indie games has created an Oprah effect, boosting sales for titles he plays. In 2016, Time named him one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People”. PewDiePie lives in Brighton with his fiancée, Italian YouTube personality Marzia Bisognin.
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