After a month-long back and forth battle, Indian music production channel T-Series has finally unseeded Swede Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, as the most subscribed to channel on YouTube.
On March 26, T-Series took the lead with a massive 30,000 subscriber margin, and as of writing (March 31), T-Series's lead sits at around 100,000 subscribers.
Who are the competitors?
PewDiePie’s account was created in 2010 and focuses on comedy content as well as video game walk throughs. He became the most-subscribed user on YouTube in December 2013. His early videos focused on him reacting to frightening elements in horror games, but he quickly began incorporating other gaming and general comedy elements to his YouTube channel.
T-Series, on the other hand, is actually an older account that was created back in 2006: slow and steady, it turns out, wins the race. The music and film production company in India was founded by Gulshan Kumar in 1983 and uploads Bollywood music videos and film trailers.
Shifting influence
The battle has seen people through their weight behind the respective channels. Fellow YouTuber Justin Roberts reportedly brought a $1 million (Dh3.67m) billboard in Times Square to promote PewDiePie, while Jimmy Donaldson (also known as MrBeast) created a 12-hour video showing him saying “PewDiePie” 100,000 times.
One fan even created a Twitter account to show when the subscriber gap between the two had dropped below 20,000.
However, T-Series also had some big name backing, especially from Bollywood. Stars such as Salman Khan, Arjun Kapoor, John Abraham and Rajkummar Rao tweeted in support of the channel:
Who will reach the 100 million mark first?
With its lead ever growing, it looks like T-Series will be the first YouTube account to hit the milestone mark. Here are the other most popular YouTube channels that could compete for the ton:
1. T Series
2. PewDiePie
3. 5-Minute Crafts
4. Canal KondZilla
5. SET India
6. Justin Bieber
7. Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes
8. WWE
9. Dude Perfect
10. HolaSoyGerman
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
