Welcome to the territory of youtubers/streamers. In this universe that for many is the beginning and the end of the world, is born.
«Rubén Doblas Gundersen may be one of the most famous people you’ve never heard of«, Thus began one of the interviews they did in his day in Time magazine. This content creator earns a living with each video that he uploads to his YouTube channel with which he manages to surprise fans all over the world, who, adding his followers in the different ones of him, reach 108 million followers (approximately as many as the inhabitants of Italy and Spain combined): 51 million on its two YouTube channels, 19.6 million on Twitter, 17 on Instagram, 12.4 million on Twitch and 8 on Facebook. (data as of July 2022)
Beyond his impressive follower numbers, Rubius was named the leader of his generation by Time magazine, he has his own anime series, his online store where he sells his own clothing brand, he has collaborated and appeared in cameos with Hollywood actors like Will Smith, Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence or Tom Holland, and even has his own character in a video game. , but this has not stopped here.
Rubius X, the Prime Video documentary that celebrates the tenth anniversary of the popular youtuber
Its popularity is so great that in the summer of 2022 Amazon Prime Video exclusively premiered “Rubius X”, a documentary that celebrates the tenth anniversary of the first video published by this influencer.
The documentary premiered exclusively on Prime Video internationally and tells the story of how some young people, with no other intention than to have fun, built a new industry without realizing it, and how it has evolved in the last 10 years.
In addition, Rubius has revisited the most viewed video in the history of its channel, Chayanne’s “Torero”, which has accumulated almost more than 12 million views, to make an orchestrated version, shot at the Palau de la Música, and performed by 70 musicians from the Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona.
Rubius X also seeks to vindicate and recognize this industry, a revolution of creators who have achieved millionaire audiences from their own homes, from gaming to global entertainment. Also, the documentary has the participation of other content creators who have accompanied Rubius during his careerlike Mangel, Alexby and Cheeto, also pioneers in defining the language of youtubers and some of the most beloved faces in the gaming community.
But… How did Rubén Doblas get to where he is? How did you go from being a gamer to becoming a media star capable of starring in commercials for top-tier brands, having your own animated series, and even appearing in movies?
We tell you about his ascent to the Olympus of youtubers, and his transformation into ElRubiusOMG SL. The story of ElRubius, in detail.
History of ElRubius: Norway, Mangel… and many videogames
His real name is Ruben Doblas Gundersen and was born in Mijas (Málaga) in 1990. Of a Spanish father and a Norwegian mother, spent his childhood between Norway and Spain until he settled definitively in our country at the age of 16. His first console was a Super nintendo that some friends of his grandmother gave him. He studied Animation and 3D Modeling, although his interest in YouTube, videos and the Internet had begun during his time in Norway, where he met through the network the well-known Mangel.
In fact, his first video on Youtube dates back to 2006, date from which he began to upload videos sporadically to his own channel, sharing gameplays of games like GTA with Mangel. However, it would not be until 2011 when she began to dedicate herself exclusively to it through her second channel. In this channel, she focused on gameplays of different video games, marking a before and after in the history of El Rubius.
One of the best known It was published at the end of that same year.a game of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which he made his own comments about the video game. Also He managed to make another video go viral in which he made a parody of the well-known Minecraft (Minecraft in 1 minute).
History of ElRubius: when virality began to bear fruit
The success of its contents earned ElRubius a name for himself in the world of Youtube, and in 2012 he managed to make his channel the first in Spain in number of subscribers, surpassing other well-known youtubers like Willyrex. In February 2013, he reached one million followers.
As his number of subscribers and global influence grew, the well-known YouTuber began to emerge as the media figure he is today. In 2014, Santiago Segura managed to convince him to appear in his movie Torrente 5and that same year published the troll bookan interactive book with challenges for readers. In the first weeks of its launch, it managed to sell 40,300 copies.
Already in 2015, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of Youtube, ElRubius won the award «Diamond button», next to the other youtuber Vegeta777, for surpassing ten million subscribers on his channel. That same year she appeared on the Risto Mejide program, To the corner of thinking, where he confessed having had a difficult time after achieving fame.
Already established in the world of influencers and the Internet, El Rubius publishes his first comic (Rubius: Virtual Hero), participates in Fanta advertising campaigns, and his company earns more than one million euros a year in advertising.
In addition, on March 25, 2018, he broke a record on YouTube by having 1 million viewers during the direct #YTBattleRoyale tournament organized by himself, which brought together a hundred Spanish-speaking youtubers, becoming the broadcast of a most watched video game in history up to that moment.
History of ElRubius: the break
However, in 2018, the success and pressure that had accumulated over the years led him to make a video announcing that he was leaving YouTube for a few months. “Making videos is what I like the most in the world, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to get in front of the camera and put on the El Rubius mask”, he counted in it.
From that moment in which he revealed on YouTube the anxiety he suffered, and despite the fact that he announced that he would continue to be active on social networks, the creator focused his efforts on moving the series forward. Virtual Herobased on his comic published in 2015. It was in September 2018 when the series saw the light, a date that coincided with the announcement of his return to Youtube after the breakand the autobiographical documentary entitled From Rubén to Rubius on Movistar+.
History of ElRubius: the biggest Spanish youtuber goes to Twitch
«Since I began my journey as a content creator back in 2001, my personal intention and objective has always been to produce smiles and joy in the hearts of people.«. This is how the speech began with which in July 2020 he confirms that he has reached an agreement with the Twitch platform for the exclusive broadcast of his streamings.
Twitch will be my home for streaming (exclusively), but YouTube will always be my home for videos. That will never change. Thanks for all the support, really 🙂
— elrubius (@Rubiu5)
ElRubius It started with an average of 5,000 viewers when it started its Twitch channel, but since then its numbers have not stopped growing. But what is the reason behind the nostalgia of the greatest Spanish youtuber? Perhaps just return to his beginnings, to the platform that saw him born and share one more moment with his followers.
A work of years, which has made its main YouTube channel currently have more than 40 million subscribers and more than 5,000 million reproductionswhich places him as the person with the most subscribers in Spain and within the top 50 of youtubers from all over the world Hours and hours of recordings that have transformed his life forever.
Almost nothing.
History of ElRubius: the move to Andorra
2021 began with controversy for ElRubius. And it is that the youtuber announced that he was moving to Andorra after a professional decade trading in our country.
Although a few months before his announcement, the youtuber had already positioned himself on the fact that many of his colleagues and youtubers went to Andorra to avoid paying taxes in Spain due to the great tax difference that exists between the two countries; the decision, he says, has nothing to do with money, although he did express his dissatisfaction with the treatment received by the Spanish Tax Agency.
We must remember that the tax system in Andorra is much more lax with large incomes than in Spain: in the neighboring country, personal income tax would never exceed 10%, while in Spain, the tax burden of the high income brackets of ElRubius can reach 47% (for the part of your income greater than 300,000 euros). A debate on taxation that sparked controversy on social networks and the appearance of all kinds of creative explanations about the situation.
INCOME TAX EXPLAINED WITH ICE CREAM
Imagine that they paid you your salary in ice cream. How much would the estate take? Well, it depends on the number of balls.
The first leaves it all for you, the second gives a little bite, the third a little more, the fourth a bigger bite…
— Context Sintext (@contextosin)
Although he emphasized that the decision was made as a result of wanting to be closer to his partner and friends, the streamer’s decision generated a stir on social networks. However, he is not the only Spanish youtuber who has chosen to pay taxes in Andorra: other faces known as Willyrex, Vegetta, or Patry Jordan also take advantage of the Andorran tax model. Other influencers, such as Ibai, spoke out against it, reminding Rubén of the importance of fiscal redistribution.
How do you think the story of ElRubius will continue?
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