True, but most yt channels also dont have an actual company with over 100 employees behind it. Dont quote me on the number tho, im getting old :x And id imagine most channels also rely on their owners as the main personality, if pewdiepie for example sold his channel the value would drop massively id imagine. 9 figures for all of LMG makes sense if you think about what you get as opposed to say 10mil subs on yt.
It would've been more than just the multiple TH-cam channels. Merch store, (likely) Floatplane, brand deals, infrastructure, inventory, equipment, etc. etc.
Don't forget as well that not many tech channels have the reach of LTT/LMG now. Linus himself is a Meme, randomly recommended tech videos have the LTT screw driver, major players in the industry pony up big cash to sponsor videos. It's all the "moats" as Linus put it that are the true value to a player in the game.
I mean you have some youtube channels right now that can be estimated over a billion dollars. 9 figures isn't that insane especially when he has a company not just a youtube channel.
Dude for real I've had dreams like this too, I once had a dream where for some reason despite LTT being a pretty sizable company with departments now, Linus was showing me around and training me 😂
If someone offered 9 figures for LMG?? Assuming the people that offered actually had some idea as to LMGs true value, what is their annual revenue and profits?
They don't particularly lay down numbers but have you seen the videos where Linus has gone through the yearly markups and shown the percentage splits for income? IIRC it's been discussed multiple times on WAN so there's bound to be clips here somewhere too...
just in salaries, 102 people, roughly 100k each (benifets, employer taxes, etc) leads to 10 million... likely a good 20 of those make well into 100k, plus literally everything else.. likely around 25 million revenue a year
@@vatomais it’s been said (not by LMG) that junior writers which are a large portion of staff only make around 50-60K per annum so there’s that as well
And rough numbers, 32000 people on floatplane just subbed to ltt, at $5 a piece that's revenue of $1.9m on just LTT on floatplane let alone the other creators. That doesn't include merch, TH-cam revenue, sponsors, etc and all the other pieces of their previous videos showing where there money comes from. They are a huge company and most people don't know it.
Linus, I've been watching you and Luke since you guys were still sitting on the couch in the living room. One of the things that always attracted me to your Channel was that you were so open and honest about what it was you were doing. As you grew and grew that attitude never changed. There is an integrity in the two of you, and as a result, those around you as well. You've been unapologetically honest in your reviews, as far as I can tell, and when you're put between a rock and a hard place, you let us know what's going on. Your fan base will never leave you if you maintain that integrity. You keep that Integrity going, and you hang on to that company privately until you are absolutely 100% certain that you can walk away from it.
Listening to your stories of the past struggles.. make a video on this! It's motivating to hear where yall came from.. been apart of the journey for almost half of my life watching since I first saw you unbox this sexy nzxt case back in 2013..
I'm glad that throughout the rollercoaster, LTT has remained true to it's core values and is in the place it is today. It is a real example of sticking to your passions and the gamble paying off, in itself the dangers of such has always been made clear though. It's a very delicate balance! Also, long time viewer here but I had completely missed the Christmas Album, I don't use the forums as much as I have an account there, wild to see that it's on bandcamp for a dollar, spotify, then still on LTT Forums for $3 😂😂
I think the best way of showing appreciation is buying some merch. I was holding back on the screwdriver but going to order it now. Linus has stuck to his values time and time again.
Somebody offered at the minimum 100 million for lmg? Of course pretty much everybody in the community that follows Linus long term, knows he would have never taken the deal because he wants to do his own fun things that aren't necessarily profitable long term. Keeping the business private and to himself allows him to do stuff like labs that won't have huge profitability long term but is a necessity for the larger community of those in the technology space and those that want to get into the technology space.
@@chrisparky no, almost ALL sales of this nature come with a "no compete" clause in the contract. Meaning, he legally wouldn't be allowed to start over for a set period, say 10 years.
The lab is probably profitable in the long term, as they only have to buy the equipment once, maintain it indefinitely, and pump out videos utilizing it, which will make them money. Short term, they're in the hole; but long term, they'll break even at the very least, as long as things keep going well for the company.
I talk about that with my associate often. The "I couldn't do what we did 16 years ago when we started this company". We each had several jobs *in addition* to building our company, which was mostly working all nighters and weekends. Most income from those jobs went to keep the company afloat, and eat (sometimes). I lived in another city, so I actually traveled back and forth (like 6 hours each way), and I actually sneaked into the train every time to avoid having to pay a ticket. When you make it, and you look back, you realize it's very easy to get used to the good stuff.
When you look at how far LMG has come other the last years, I've been here watching them grow for a few nears now, a 9 figure number isn't that crazy. Lets not forget Linus said a few times he doesn't have to work anymore and still life a really comfortable live
Such a fantastic video! Thanks for your transparency Linus. That is one of (if not "THE") quality that makes us want to come back again and again. Also, your description of the moats (barriers to entry) shows that you truly *are* a savvy businessman... on top of everything else.
The problem with regrets and "do I wish this never happened?" is a lot of the time, you get growth out of it, whether that means personal, a better understanding of why not to do things, or anything else. Some people hear "don't do X" and even if it's explained to them why, they don't really understand it until the fallout from doing X happens - and then they really understand it.
It’s so nice hearing Linus and Luke reminiscing on the start of the company. I wish they’d do a whole WAN show all about sharing stories and looking back at the past with guests
People surprised by the offer forget Joe Rogan got payed 100 000 000$ just to upload exclusively on a different platform. And LMG is way more profitable than the JRE.
This clip makes me feel like I'm doomed for having pivoted to become a tech channel in 2016, instead of 2008-2010 when some people, and family members, suggested I do "tech reviews online" but I had just gotten my degree and wanted to explore job opportunities related to that. 😮💨
While as someone who works in production I can see the huge amount of work Linus puts in to his channel both in front and behind the camera, as well as the obvious value he's bringing as the "face" of things... that is an insane amount of money for one person to solely be the beneficiary of when so many other people put in work behind it. It would also put the people still on board basically "in the hole" on all the hard work they did themselves as the new owners tried to squeeze that value back out.
I genuinely hope that he has carved up the ownership given the criminal underpayment of people that are still with him... They are literally describing him living in poverty to support Linus. There is likely silent/money partners but I can't imagine Linus personally owning less than 50% which still makes it an outrageous amount of money for a business that's value is basically derived by it's on-screen talent which can walk out in a couple of years and dunk the value by like 80% and start their own entertainment business.
Years and years ago when I was still into the tech field I disliked Linus but I've grown to like him over the time and I'm glad his channel has grown to the extent that it has and I'm genuinely happy he decided to keep his channel and not take the money and run. Some things are worth more than money and having something you'd like to do with life is one of them
You know, it's just nice to hear from someone who is financially head and shoulders above me and my peers, be so humble and honest. But also, have done it through sheer hard work and what would seem little exploitation.
Yeah you definitely DIDNT tell us it was upwards of 9 figures lmao I'm pretty sure I remember you talking about it, and I was under the impression that it was somewhere in the 8 figure range this whole time
13:10, while a LTT East would be good for NA East people for accessibility reasons, it'd also be great for EU folk. A flight from London to Toronto is half the price from London to Vancouver
If someone offered $100M for LMG that means that they at least make $5M in EBIDTA with good growth rates. Actually crazy how successful one can be with youtube. (Not saying that he is "just" a youtuber it's incredibly impressive what they have built). And that is a very conservative estimate. Linus even said in his video: 5,7 or even 9 times EBITDA multiple. The $5M in EBITDA assumes a 20x multiple which is almost surely too high. If you go with the 9 times it is more like $11M in EBITDA and that is assuming they "only" offered 100M for the whole company, which obviously would be the lowest 9 figure amount. Crazy to think about.
It's not when you think about how big they are. He mentioned on wan he invested over 7 figures into the backpack and screwdriver that they sell at a profit, I just did the math on another comment and they netted atleast $1.9m a year on people subbed to LTT on floatplane alone not including other creators, they make money from TH-cam ads, sponsorships, etc that's shown in the revenue videos they have made in the past. People buying businesses are buying on a multiple. They are not buying on what it did that year but what they did x3,4,5 depending on the business I can clearly see how someone would offer 9 figures. They are a machine that pumps out content that makes money on multiple channels all with their own sponsors and merch
Depends on the timescale the valuation would have been in the ballpark of. ... Honestly, if we're talking any kind of plans on serious expansion and coverage, 9 figures seems pretty apt when we're talking 5-10 years of media. Not to mention LTT already has the serious core audience. It's hard to get the 'specialist viewers', the mainstream you can just cater to. The longer i think about it, no matter how stunned i am, that 9 figures makes a _lot_ of sense if there was any sort of corporate weight behind that offer.
Let's not forget the value of the buildings alone. If I remember correctly, the building with the empty cardboard box storage (may have a different purpose now) was $500,000 when they bought it.
Seriously hoping the LTT Labs investment pays off huge. The in depth analysis that they are setting themselves up to do could be invaluable to the community. I wonder if this offer came in about the same time Linus posted his 'retiring' rant. Right at that point it felt like he'd gone even more and more into DGAF about pressure from manufacturers for positive press.
Motes is a nice way to say "pulling up the ladder". it's what all companies do, either by being good, or shadily by lobbying regulation, to crush any upcoming competitors.
Lobbying regulation is not a moat, emote is a defensive measure so if we're talking about corporate stuff it would be investing in a better r d lab than your opponents, It would be investing in a better business team to more effectively advertise your product or whatever.
The offer would be for the entirety of Linus Media Group, not just the YT channels and given the revenue & profit LMG creates, the offer is hugely reasonable.
Not that crazy LMG as a whole includes a 10M+ following youtube channel built and runs a dedicated streaming service with paid monthly users several big buildings and a lot of expensive tech/equipment and a merch store before you even before you factor in the turnover that's already looking expensive
Considering that LTT is now diversifying with the lab offering probably the best testing infrastructure for electronics that are not run by the manufacturers themselves it just means LTT is establishing itself probably well beyond the video production part itself. Floatplane is another thing - the platform runs itself without LTT on it and there's a lot of potential in there. Sure, producing videos both for the public and for internal use for clients will probably be the biggest revenue source for a while but eventualls floatplane and the value of in depth testing and review capabilities might eventually grow beyond the video division. At that point LMG could be sold without revenue tanking and a massive brain/creativity drain. At that point however the price tag will probably high 9 to low 10 figures.
Always great to hear companies actually reinvesting profits back into the company so they have long term growth, and not just just worried about what the quarter looks like. This is why companies that pander to shareholders and their short term wants end up getting edged out by new companies all the time.
5 dollar per video, is the reason why minimum wage is really bad for small businesses, what you need are negotiated wages and loads of companies so there is at worst a slight shortage of workers.
You gotta hand it to LMG. When that white labeled screw driver hit the scene, every literally soy boy I knew bought one. It was just like on their desk at work. They didn't fully know why they bought it. They knew it's features but they had exactly one reason a year to use it for a 30 minute build. Genius target marketing.
100+ million? Ima be honest, I have 100% respect for Linus not taking it (also as a fan probably the best outcome), but I would not be able to resist that
EBITDA = Earning before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. (i.e. the sales minus the direct costs of sales -- e.g. the cost of producing and shipping the screwdrivers)
The great thing about an LTT is that you can not care that it's down if the reason is aggressive reinvestment into the business. You're making a bet and you're happy about it.
this whole mindset of "profits being down year-over-year" is a problem has got to stop. I KNOW that's not what Linus was saying, but he was hedging against other people saying that. Corporations just canNOT keep exploding profits year over every single year. It will absolutely stop someday. the longer it goes, the more catastrophic it will be.
It also results in otherwise good managers and upper echelon people compromising on their integrity and, in far too many cases, destroying what they've built through the hard work of themselves and their workers. And if you alienate the work force, good luck staying in business in the long term.
Expecially tech companies are hurting themselves with this mindset. Thats why there are suddenly so many subsciption based things right now and they will inevitably have to raise the cost as they cant expand their userbase infinitely. The best example is Facebook with roughly 3 billion active users and they had to build out the internet access in africa to widen their exposure which in finite, so the only way to go now is a subscription-based service. Other things companies do is to cheapen out on their products or workforce (decreasing manpower and/or wage).
"I've got unfinished business" Yeah, I think that's it. Linus, the kind of guy who builds a large company from the ground up would not want to sit idle for the rest of his life. If he had an idea for an alternative venture he'd absolutely take the money and pursue that idea instead, but LMG is his thing.
I see the vision. I've been watching Linus since 2014. They will soon be a huge independent verifier of consumer goods across all industries. You will first see "LTT Quality Verified" across all consumer gaming and computer parts, then general tech like security cameras, external drives, and phone chargers. They will soon be larger than a media company, they will be a cooperative. It will be a well-known company outside of youtube.
The funniest possible answer would have been “hiring Colton.”
Not firing him enough lol
Can't get rid of him now
Yes
@@oMoM-dj2cg What do you mean, they've already gotten rid of him. Multiple times, might I add.
I thought it was Dennis he wanted to murder...
My biggest regret is that Linus didn't find Dan sooner.
We will never get those years back that we watched LTT without Dan
Dan Dan Daaaaaaaaahhhhhnnnn
@@NineEyeRon Hey I'm Dan, I'm also Dan- Daaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
agreed
you spelled Anthony wrong
@@Ranger.TomGunna they are all equally unique and important. they are a team that works as a team, and that is so great to see
From paying Luke 5 bucks per video to being offered 9 figures for LTT. What a journey it has been!
Finally, now he'd be able to pay him 6$ per video.
Little known fact! He still pays Luke 5 dollars, but now they're usd instead on Canadian dollars!
And NOT taking it...
But Luke could've left, but he saw Linus' vision... And they overshot that dream tenfold.
$420,691,337. Final offer. Take it or leave it.
Double it because he’s canadian he would only get half
@@drogerflav6350 Done. 🤝. Congratulations on your purchase of LMG. Please clear a room for Tivy, he'll be at your home in 30 minutes.
what is 1337 in reference to?
@@govindsharma7738 LEET
@@govindsharma7738 "leet" speak I would assume
HOLY CRAP that's a fat stack. From experience, that is absolute light years ahead of the value of most TH-cam channels.
True, but most yt channels also dont have an actual company with over 100 employees behind it. Dont quote me on the number tho, im getting old :x And id imagine most channels also rely on their owners as the main personality, if pewdiepie for example sold his channel the value would drop massively id imagine. 9 figures for all of LMG makes sense if you think about what you get as opposed to say 10mil subs on yt.
It would've been more than just the multiple TH-cam channels. Merch store, (likely) Floatplane, brand deals, infrastructure, inventory, equipment, etc. etc.
Don't forget as well that not many tech channels have the reach of LTT/LMG now. Linus himself is a Meme, randomly recommended tech videos have the LTT screw driver, major players in the industry pony up big cash to sponsor videos. It's all the "moats" as Linus put it that are the true value to a player in the game.
the answer is monopoly.
I mean you have some youtube channels right now that can be estimated over a billion dollars. 9 figures isn't that insane especially when he has a company not just a youtube channel.
I had a dream a couple weeks ago I worked at LMG. Please send me my check for the hours I worked when I was asleep.
get this man his paycheck
I have the same dream around 1-2 months ago
😂😂😂
Dude for real I've had dreams like this too, I once had a dream where for some reason despite LTT being a pretty sizable company with departments now, Linus was showing me around and training me 😂
Me too. That's OUR check.
If someone offered 9 figures for LMG?? Assuming the people that offered actually had some idea as to LMGs true value, what is their annual revenue and profits?
I’d say revenue is probably around the 20m mark if I had to guess.
They don't particularly lay down numbers but have you seen the videos where Linus has gone through the yearly markups and shown the percentage splits for income?
IIRC it's been discussed multiple times on WAN so there's bound to be clips here somewhere too...
just in salaries, 102 people, roughly 100k each (benifets, employer taxes, etc) leads to 10 million... likely a good 20 of those make well into 100k, plus literally everything else.. likely around 25 million revenue a year
@@vatomais it’s been said (not by LMG) that junior writers which are a large portion of staff only make around 50-60K per annum so there’s that as well
And rough numbers, 32000 people on floatplane just subbed to ltt, at $5 a piece that's revenue of $1.9m on just LTT on floatplane let alone the other creators. That doesn't include merch, TH-cam revenue, sponsors, etc and all the other pieces of their previous videos showing where there money comes from. They are a huge company and most people don't know it.
From garage WAN shows to 9 figure offers. You guys are the reason I work in IT. It's so crazy to see the growth
Man Luke is the real mvp, he went through hell, glad he's getting what he deserves now
Linus getting offered 275,000,000 for LMG and turning it down is such a baller move tbh
next time they better offer more like 20,000,000,000
How do you know it was 275 and not 100?
Imagine if he accepted, then made another company and all the previous employees followed him...
@@arjix8738 do you know what a non-compete is lmao
@@arjix8738 most companions are sold including the talent. Largely it’s just a change in leadership and ownership.
Linus, I've been watching you and Luke since you guys were still sitting on the couch in the living room. One of the things that always attracted me to your Channel was that you were so open and honest about what it was you were doing. As you grew and grew that attitude never changed. There is an integrity in the two of you, and as a result, those around you as well. You've been unapologetically honest in your reviews, as far as I can tell, and when you're put between a rock and a hard place, you let us know what's going on. Your fan base will never leave you if you maintain that integrity.
You keep that Integrity going, and you hang on to that company privately until you are absolutely 100% certain that you can walk away from it.
"By the way, Dan, I _do_ monitor the floatplane chat."
"NO YOU DON'T!"
😆
Listening to your stories of the past struggles.. make a video on this! It's motivating to hear where yall came from.. been apart of the journey for almost half of my life watching since I first saw you unbox this sexy nzxt case back in 2013..
I'm glad that throughout the rollercoaster, LTT has remained true to it's core values and is in the place it is today. It is a real example of sticking to your passions and the gamble paying off, in itself the dangers of such has always been made clear though. It's a very delicate balance!
Also, long time viewer here but I had completely missed the Christmas Album, I don't use the forums as much as I have an account there, wild to see that it's on bandcamp for a dollar, spotify, then still on LTT Forums for $3 😂😂
Luke's unfettered laugh fills my heart.
Can we all just take a minute to thank him for not selling up! What LTT and LMG is worth to us mere mortals is not measurable! Thank you Linus!
I think the best way of showing appreciation is buying some merch. I was holding back on the screwdriver but going to order it now.
Linus has stuck to his values time and time again.
Luke deserves the success that came to his way, dude got paid $5 per video still stuck with LMG and LTT, proved that he is the real one.
Somebody offered at the minimum 100 million for lmg? Of course pretty much everybody in the community that follows Linus long term, knows he would have never taken the deal because he wants to do his own fun things that aren't necessarily profitable long term. Keeping the business private and to himself allows him to do stuff like labs that won't have huge profitability long term but is a necessity for the larger community of those in the technology space and those that want to get into the technology space.
If any of his employees have equity they won't see this potentially multimillion dollar payout though.
Linus could have taken the money and built it all up again, I think he enjoys the grind.
@@chrisparky no, almost ALL sales of this nature come with a "no compete" clause in the contract.
Meaning, he legally wouldn't be allowed to start over for a set period, say 10 years.
Sennheiser got sold for 200 millions. I'm really surprised LTT worths minimum 100 millions.
The lab is probably profitable in the long term, as they only have to buy the equipment once, maintain it indefinitely, and pump out videos utilizing it, which will make them money. Short term, they're in the hole; but long term, they'll break even at the very least, as long as things keep going well for the company.
I talk about that with my associate often. The "I couldn't do what we did 16 years ago when we started this company". We each had several jobs *in addition* to building our company, which was mostly working all nighters and weekends. Most income from those jobs went to keep the company afloat, and eat (sometimes). I lived in another city, so I actually traveled back and forth (like 6 hours each way), and I actually sneaked into the train every time to avoid having to pay a ticket. When you make it, and you look back, you realize it's very easy to get used to the good stuff.
When you look at how far LMG has come other the last years, I've been here watching them grow for a few nears now, a 9 figure number isn't that crazy.
Lets not forget Linus said a few times he doesn't have to work anymore and still life a really comfortable live
Such a fantastic video! Thanks for your transparency Linus. That is one of (if not "THE") quality that makes us want to come back again and again. Also, your description of the moats (barriers to entry) shows that you truly *are* a savvy businessman... on top of everything else.
This is, IMO, one of the best clips I've seen in a really long time, if not forever!
Really? I had to skip through out of boredom
We need more people like linus that are in it with their hart and principles
Heart would be good too
Hey leave Kevin Hart outta this
I'm in it with my fart
I would love to see the invoice from Luke to Linus.
The problem with regrets and "do I wish this never happened?" is a lot of the time, you get growth out of it, whether that means personal, a better understanding of why not to do things, or anything else. Some people hear "don't do X" and even if it's explained to them why, they don't really understand it until the fallout from doing X happens - and then they really understand it.
It’s so nice hearing Linus and Luke reminiscing on the start of the company. I wish they’d do a whole WAN show all about sharing stories and looking back at the past with guests
Love the smug look on Linus' face when he was suggesting the offer price. He deserves his success.
Also, $5 a video is WILD. Seeing as Luke was filming, that'd be like $10/hr, not even. Including commuting, that'd be like $3/hr, below min wage
More than I ever made for a youtube vid.
You too are truly awesome people, keep on doing you. And we'll keep being happy and proud.
People surprised by the offer forget Joe Rogan got payed 100 000 000$ just to upload exclusively on a different platform. And LMG is way more profitable than the JRE.
I love those funny old stories, especially with Luke losing it multiple times :D
This clip makes me feel like I'm doomed for having pivoted to become a tech channel in 2016, instead of 2008-2010 when some people, and family members, suggested I do "tech reviews online" but I had just gotten my degree and wanted to explore job opportunities related to that. 😮💨
Starting in 2016 is thousands of times better than starting in 2017, let alone 2023. You’re good bro
Mate being successful on youtube is less likely than winning the lottery.
Congratulations guys you’ve made it👏👏👏
While as someone who works in production I can see the huge amount of work Linus puts in to his channel both in front and behind the camera, as well as the obvious value he's bringing as the "face" of things... that is an insane amount of money for one person to solely be the beneficiary of when so many other people put in work behind it.
It would also put the people still on board basically "in the hole" on all the hard work they did themselves as the new owners tried to squeeze that value back out.
I genuinely hope that he has carved up the ownership given the criminal underpayment of people that are still with him... They are literally describing him living in poverty to support Linus.
There is likely silent/money partners but I can't imagine Linus personally owning less than 50% which still makes it an outrageous amount of money for a business that's value is basically derived by it's on-screen talent which can walk out in a couple of years and dunk the value by like 80% and start their own entertainment business.
Taking LastPass as a sponsor
Years and years ago when I was still into the tech field I disliked Linus but I've grown to like him over the time and I'm glad his channel has grown to the extent that it has and I'm genuinely happy he decided to keep his channel and not take the money and run. Some things are worth more than money and having something you'd like to do with life is one of them
You know, it's just nice to hear from someone who is financially head and shoulders above me and my peers, be so humble and honest. But also, have done it through sheer hard work and what would seem little exploitation.
Luke was definitely exploited, but apart from that, Linus would be a very ethical hundred millionaire if he had sold LMG.
@@OLBastholm Not by LMG. His contract at NCIX was shit.
Yeah you definitely DIDNT tell us it was upwards of 9 figures lmao I'm pretty sure I remember you talking about it, and I was under the impression that it was somewhere in the 8 figure range this whole time
I love that Linus has a button on the Stream Deck that put's a camera pointed to Dan on the screen hahaha
13:10, while a LTT East would be good for NA East people for accessibility reasons, it'd also be great for EU folk. A flight from London to Toronto is half the price from London to Vancouver
If someone offered $100M for LMG that means that they at least make $5M in EBIDTA with good growth rates. Actually crazy how successful one can be with youtube. (Not saying that he is "just" a youtuber it's incredibly impressive what they have built). And that is a very conservative estimate. Linus even said in his video: 5,7 or even 9 times EBITDA multiple. The $5M in EBITDA assumes a 20x multiple which is almost surely too high. If you go with the 9 times it is more like $11M in EBITDA and that is assuming they "only" offered 100M for the whole company, which obviously would be the lowest 9 figure amount. Crazy to think about.
Linus said multiple times that almost all his profits from the the store. not YT
Something I've always tried to remember, if I regret my past then I don't like where I'm at. And I love where I'm at.
11:24 should have paid Luke in Tacos; he would have come out ahead
I am glad you DIDN'T sell and kept it in your own hands. I LOVE that you're independent and entirely your own thing.
Tbh i would've sold for 9 figures.
That evaluation seems outrageous high.
It's not when you think about how big they are. He mentioned on wan he invested over 7 figures into the backpack and screwdriver that they sell at a profit, I just did the math on another comment and they netted atleast $1.9m a year on people subbed to LTT on floatplane alone not including other creators, they make money from TH-cam ads, sponsorships, etc that's shown in the revenue videos they have made in the past. People buying businesses are buying on a multiple. They are not buying on what it did that year but what they did x3,4,5 depending on the business I can clearly see how someone would offer 9 figures. They are a machine that pumps out content that makes money on multiple channels all with their own sponsors and merch
Plus all their highly trained employees in their fields to make everything run
They make 7 figures on LTT main channel alone. Not too crazy when you take into account the multiplier thing
Depends on the timescale the valuation would have been in the ballpark of.
... Honestly, if we're talking any kind of plans on serious expansion and coverage, 9 figures seems pretty apt when we're talking 5-10 years of media.
Not to mention LTT already has the serious core audience. It's hard to get the 'specialist viewers', the mainstream you can just cater to.
The longer i think about it, no matter how stunned i am, that 9 figures makes a _lot_ of sense if there was any sort of corporate weight behind that offer.
Let's not forget the value of the buildings alone. If I remember correctly, the building with the empty cardboard box storage (may have a different purpose now) was $500,000 when they bought it.
Mr.Beast changed the business model, Linus is shooting for a Billion.
Seriously hoping the LTT Labs investment pays off huge. The in depth analysis that they are setting themselves up to do could be invaluable to the community. I wonder if this offer came in about the same time Linus posted his 'retiring' rant. Right at that point it felt like he'd gone even more and more into DGAF about pressure from manufacturers for positive press.
Sincerely one of the most interesting LMG clips!!
The Xmas album is fire! I demand the Dan Remix/Remaster!
LINUS YOU MADE THE RIGHT CALL AS THE OTHER WAY THE SOUL WOULD HAVE FELL OUT OF IT , NOW REINFORCE WHAT YOU GOT AND ARMER
I love old company history videos look forward to more.
"You're not going to have a version, Dan, we've been through this" - Dad Linus talking to his oldest child.
Soooo can't wait for Dan's version 😉
Motes is a nice way to say "pulling up the ladder". it's what all companies do, either by being good, or shadily by lobbying regulation, to crush any upcoming competitors.
Lobbying regulation is not a moat, emote is a defensive measure so if we're talking about corporate stuff it would be investing in a better r d lab than your opponents, It would be investing in a better business team to more effectively advertise your product or whatever.
What? Someone offered 100 000 000 for lmg, that seems crazy
The offer would be for the entirety of Linus Media Group, not just the YT channels and given the revenue & profit LMG creates, the offer is hugely reasonable.
Don't forget it's a big company they have alot of employees. + when buying a company your not just gonna pay a years revenue
at least 100 000 000. It was probably even more
Not that crazy LMG as a whole includes a 10M+ following youtube channel built and runs a dedicated streaming service with paid monthly users several big buildings and a lot of expensive tech/equipment and a merch store before you even before you factor in the turnover that's already looking expensive
I'd say it was probably in the 250million range.
What I like about LMG and their channels is they are honest & entertaining.
Linus and Luke are really lucky to find one another.
You cant ask a businessman what his regret is. They simply answer you with what they dont regret.
Give Dan his Christmas album!
We want the remastered version…
Luke is the real trooper here
Considering that LTT is now diversifying with the lab offering probably the best testing infrastructure for electronics that are not run by the manufacturers themselves it just means LTT is establishing itself probably well beyond the video production part itself. Floatplane is another thing - the platform runs itself without LTT on it and there's a lot of potential in there. Sure, producing videos both for the public and for internal use for clients will probably be the biggest revenue source for a while but eventualls floatplane and the value of in depth testing and review capabilities might eventually grow beyond the video division. At that point LMG could be sold without revenue tanking and a massive brain/creativity drain. At that point however the price tag will probably high 9 to low 10 figures.
EBITA is an acronym that refers to the earnings of a company before interest, tax, and amortization expenses are deducted.
Even though the whole Intel tour was censored almost everywhere. I still say that was the best tour I have ever seen.
You know how important Yvonne is to LTT when Linus has no idea what EBITDA stands for. 😊
Good on linus for not selling out.....if it was for the money he might have sold it.....but its not about the money for LTT....fantastic on them
Always great to hear companies actually reinvesting profits back into the company so they have long term growth, and not just just worried about what the quarter looks like. This is why companies that pander to shareholders and their short term wants end up getting edged out by new companies all the time.
Now I want Dan to make his version
Could’ve sworn Linus would say the biggest regret was going threadripper
5 dollar per video, is the reason why minimum wage is really bad for small businesses, what you need are negotiated wages and loads of companies so there is at worst a slight shortage of workers.
Finance guy here, being offered 9 figures of liquidity is insane for a youtube channel. wonder what hes cooking up behind the scenes.
When he said "It wasn't 8 either"
HOLY SHIT
I think Linus' biggest regret subconsciously lead the discussion towards the Christmas album.
I never knew they made a Christmas album... Time to buy it, the preview video is hilarious 🤣
Talking about getting paid 5$ per video, brings me back to my early college days broke as hell. The struggle made us who we are today.
Let Dan cook with that remaster!
Dropping the inventory has to be Top 5
You gotta hand it to LMG. When that white labeled screw driver hit the scene, every literally soy boy I knew bought one. It was just like on their desk at work. They didn't fully know why they bought it. They knew it's features but they had exactly one reason a year to use it for a 30 minute build. Genius target marketing.
Not gonna lie, a millionth of this value is life changing already.
I LOOOOOVE Dan! The sass!
You guys are the best.
A 1 million dollar investment into the screw driver turned into a 50 million studio that will generate 250 million in revenue over time.
His laugh is wonderful. 😂
100+ million?
Ima be honest, I have 100% respect for Linus not taking it (also as a fan probably the best outcome), but I would not be able to resist that
I once logged into my email that was provided by my mobile carrier and I ended up receiving all the emails of what looked liked a server admin.
Linus, I wouldn't have blamed you for a second for taking that offer, but I'm selfishly glad you didn't take it.
Not Yvonne cringing at Linus explaining EBITDA 🤣🤣
I love the fact Linus is a force for good as there are too few people holding corporates to account which is why the Lab is a great idea.
My biggest regret was this segue to our sponsor
we want a Dan version!
EBITDA = Earning before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. (i.e. the sales minus the direct costs of sales -- e.g. the cost of producing and shipping the screwdrivers)
Dan is not giving up on the xmas album 😂
"I FED HIM"
That was kind of sweet
The great thing about an LTT is that you can not care that it's down if the reason is aggressive reinvestment into the business. You're making a bet and you're happy about it.
this whole mindset of "profits being down year-over-year" is a problem has got to stop. I KNOW that's not what Linus was saying, but he was hedging against other people saying that. Corporations just canNOT keep exploding profits year over every single year. It will absolutely stop someday. the longer it goes, the more catastrophic it will be.
Bruh that is literally how ecomonies and inflation in general works....they can grow indefinitely and they do
It also results in otherwise good managers and upper echelon people compromising on their integrity and, in far too many cases, destroying what they've built through the hard work of themselves and their workers.
And if you alienate the work force, good luck staying in business in the long term.
Expecially tech companies are hurting themselves with this mindset. Thats why there are suddenly so many subsciption based things right now and they will inevitably have to raise the cost as they cant expand their userbase infinitely. The best example is Facebook with roughly 3 billion active users and they had to build out the internet access in africa to widen their exposure which in finite, so the only way to go now is a subscription-based service. Other things companies do is to cheapen out on their products or workforce (decreasing manpower and/or wage).
@@sgmoments9909 there is no infinite growt tho, markets can get saturated and there is not an infinite amount of customers.
@@Gnarfendorf Every second a new customer is born
5:36 two chaaaainz
"I've got unfinished business"
Yeah, I think that's it. Linus, the kind of guy who builds a large company from the ground up would not want to sit idle for the rest of his life. If he had an idea for an alternative venture he'd absolutely take the money and pursue that idea instead, but LMG is his thing.
Maybe he can make another overpriced garbage screwdriver
I love Linus’s transparency, didn’t take the bag. He truly understands that’s the journey is worth more then the destination.
Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again…
I see the vision. I've been watching Linus since 2014. They will soon be a huge independent verifier of consumer goods across all industries. You will first see "LTT Quality Verified" across all consumer gaming and computer parts, then general tech like security cameras, external drives, and phone chargers. They will soon be larger than a media company, they will be a cooperative. It will be a well-known company outside of youtube.