PewDiePie

Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, born on 24 October 1989, is a Swedish online personality best known under the internet pseudonym PewDiePie. He achieved international fame primarily through his video game commentaries, particularly Let's Play videos focused on horror and action titles. Over time, he expanded his digital content to encompass satirical commentary, comedy sketches, vlogs, formatted series, and music videos. Media coverage has widely recognized him as a prominent ambassador for online video culture and a major figure in internet gaming entertainment.

Born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, Kjellberg grew up alongside his older sister in a household with a mother who served as a corporate chief information officer and a father who worked as a corporate executive. During childhood, he cultivated an interest in video games and drawing art. In high school, he purchased his first computer using earnings from art sold through his grandmother's gallery. He later pursued a degree in industrial engineering and management at Chalmers University of Technology, but left the institution in 2011 due to a lack of interest in the coursework.

To finance his early video production after leaving university, Kjellberg worked as a harbor captain, sold hot dogs, and created digital artwork. Having registered his main YouTube channel in April 2010, his early uploads featured commentaries on games such as Minecraft and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, as well as a weekly vlog series. His viewer base experienced rapid growth between 2012 and 2013. After partnering with digital networks like Maker Studios, he became the most-subscribed creator on YouTube in August 2013.

As his popularity expanded, Kjellberg diversified his content beyond gaming to include viral challenges, meme reviews, and web series. His channel became the platform's most-viewed between late 2014 and early 2017. Beyond video creation, he launched a mobile application, an online merchandise store, and starred in a reality web series for YouTube's subscription service. His content exposure frequently boosted sales for independent video game developers and supported various charitable fundraising initiatives.

In the late 2010s, Kjellberg faced increased media scrutiny surrounding controversies over his humor, notably following a 2017 news report detailing alleged antisemitic themes that led to severed business deals. Although he acknowledged the material was inappropriate, he maintained that his statements were taken out of context. Later, in late 2018 and early 2019, he engaged in a high-profile subscriber competition with the Indian music label T-Series, after which he returned to high-viewership gaming content centered on Minecraft.

In the 2020s, Kjellberg scaled back his online career, moving into semi-retirement to post content less frequently and for personal enjoyment. He relocated to Japan with his wife, Italian internet personality Marzia, shifting his focus toward personal interests and family life. Over his career, Kjellberg accumulated over 109 million subscribers and more than 29.5 billion cumulative views, while earning honors such as being named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2016.