The king of YouTube (Picture: Getty Images)

PewDiePie has won the fight for the throne of YouTube.

For now.

He celebrated his victory by tweeting: ‘First channel to hit 6,9000,000. THANK YOU SO MUCH.’

First channel to hit 69000000. ????

THANK YOU SO MUCH! ??? https://t.co/nf2ga62IXa — ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (@pewdiepie) November 2, 2018

As the YouTuber – real name Felix Kjellberg – looked set to lose his spot as the most subscribed channel on YouTube, he made it clear he was not going to go quietly.

The Swedish-born YouTube star was on track to beat rival Bollywood record label T-Series – who at one point were tipped to overtake him – following a campaign to defend his spot.

The online movement, backed by other notable vloggers, has seen a remarkable surge in followers for the video star in the past week.

Last Saturday, T-Series had 67.23 million subscribers, just a mere 140,000 short of the PewDiePie’s 67.37 million.

But one week later and an intense marketing campaign later, PewDiePie now sits almost 700,000 subscribers ahead.

Some of Felix’s biggest support comes from fellow YouTuber Mr. Beast, who has dedicated an inordinate amount of time and money into making sure PewDiePie stays on top.

In a bizarre reversal of the physical and digital, the creator has been using billboards and radio adverts to advertise Felix’s channel.

The video star is pleased with himself (Picture: Wire Image)

He tweeted: ‘I bought a bunch of billboards, did radio ads, bought a newspaper page, bathroom ads, airport ads, interviews, and much more to advertise PewDiePie and stop T-Series.’

Staying at the top of the most subscribed list is more than just a matter of pride for PewDiePie.

He has admitted in a video that T-Series taking the top spot would represent YouTube increasingly prioritising corporations over individual creators.

‘It’s already a heated subject now that a company is taking over. Everyone is going on the rant, “YouTube is not really becoming YouTube” and, “it’s never going to be the same now”,’ he said.

‘I don’t really care about T-Series, I genuinely don’t,’ he continued.

‘But I think if YouTube does shift in a way where it does feel more corporate, [then] something else will take its place. I think people enjoy this connection so much, I think something else will just show up, if it feels too corporate.’

The label has existed since 1983 – way before YouTube and the first commercial use of the internet in 1989 – and has made used of India’s growing number of internet users by uploading several music videos a day.

The company also uses its platform to upload trailers for Bollywood films.

PewDiePie – who started his channel in 2010 – uploads videos that range from commentary, videos and gaming.

In the past, the vlogger has apologised after facing some controversy as of late with his use of anti-Semitic slurs and the N-word.

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He was signed at the time to a multi-channel network – Maker Studios – who were owned by Disney, but they cut ties with him after the controversy.

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The star’s net worth is reported to be $61 million (£41 million) but according to Business Insider his estimated net salary was $15 million (£11 million) in 2017. The Wall Street Journal reported that PewDiePie earned $4 million (£3 million) in 2013, which he has confirmed; this was only three years into his career.

At the height of the controversy in 2017, PewDiePie had over 53 million subscribers.

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