Soil bacteria have been investigated for more than a century, but one of the most dominant terrestrial groups on Earth, “
Candidatus
Udaeobacter,” remains elusive and largely unexplored. Its natural habitat is considered a major reservoir of antibiotics, which directly or indirectly impact phylogenetically diverse microorganisms. Here, we found that “
Ca.
Udaeobacter” representatives exhibit multidrug resistance and not only evade harmful effects of antimicrobials but even benefit from antibiotic pressure in soil. Therefore, “
Ca.
Udaeobacter” evidently affects the composition of soil resistomes worldwide and might represent a winner of rising environmental pollution with antimicrobials. In addition, our study indicates that “
Ca.
Udaeobacter” representatives utilize H
2
and thereby contribute to global hydrogen cycling. The here-reported findings provide insights into elementary lifestyle features of “
Ca.
Udaeobacter,” potentially contributing to its successful global dissemination.