Gabe Newell

American businessmanTemplate:SHORTDESC:American businessman

* AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2013)

**Gabe Logan Newell** (born November 3, 1962), nicknamed **Gaben**, is an American businessman and the president of the video game company Valve.

Newell was born in Colorado and grew up in Davis, California. He attended Harvard University in the early 1980s but dropped out to join Microsoft, where he helped create the first versions of the Windows operating system. He and another employee, Mike Harrington, left Microsoft in 1996 to found Valve. Harrington left in 2000, leaving Newell as the sole owner. As of 2021, he owned at least one quarter of Valve.

Newell led development of Valve's digital distribution service Steam, which launched in 2003 and controlled most of the market for downloaded PC games by 2011. He is one of the wealthiest people in the United States; in December 2021, *Forbes* estimated his net worth at US$Template:Narrow no-break space3.9 billion.

## Early life and Microsoft career

Newell was born on November 3, 1962, in Colorado, and attended Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. He enrolled at Harvard University in 1980, but was convinced to drop out to work for Bill Gates at Microsoft by the head of sales in 1983. He spent the next 13 years as the lead developer of the first three releases of the Windows operating systems, making him a millionaire. Newell later said he learned more during his first three months at Microsoft than he ever did at Harvard, which was one of the primary reasons why he dropped out.

In late 1995, *Doom*, a 1993 first-person shooter game developed by id Software, was estimated to be installed on more computers worldwide than Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 95. Newell said: "[id] ... didn't even distribute through retail, it distributed through bulletin boards and other pre-internet mechanisms. To me, that was a lightning bolt. Microsoft was hiring 500-people sales teams and this entire company was 12 people, yet it had created the most widely distributed software in the world. There was a sea change coming." At Microsoft, Newell led development on a port of *Doom* for Windows 95; the port is credited for helping make Windows a viable game platform.

## Valve

 File:Gabe Newell GDC 2010.jpg
Inspired by Michael Abrash, who left Microsoft to work on the game *Quake* at id, Newell and another employee, Mike Harrington, left Microsoft to found the video game company Valve on August 24, 1996. Newell and Harrington funded development of the first Valve product, the first-person shooter *Half-Life* (1998). Harrington left in 2000, leaving Newell as the sole owner.

During the production of *Half-Life 2* (2004), Newell spent several months developing Steam, a digital distribution service for games. By 2011, Steam controlled between 50% and 70% of the market for downloaded PC games and generated most of Valve's revenue. In December 2010, *Forbes* named Newell "A Name You Should Know", primarily for his work on Steam having partnerships with multiple major developers.

In 2007, Newell expressed his displeasure over developing software for game consoles, saying that developing processes for Sony's PlayStation 3 was a "waste of everybody's time" Newell appeared on stage at Sony's keynote at E3 2010; while acknowledging his criticism of console development, he discussed the open nature of the PlayStation 3 and announced *Portal 2* for the console, remarking that with Steamworks support it would be the best version for any console. Newell also criticized the Xbox Live service, referring to it as a "train wreck", and was also critical of Windows 8, calling it a threat to the open nature of PC gaming.

In 2013, Newell was added to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. That March, he received the BAFTA Fellowship award for his contributions to the video game industry. In October 2017, *Forbes* listed Newell among the 100 wealthiest people in the United States, with an estimated net worth of Template:USD5.5Template:Narrow no-break spacebillion. In December 2021, *Forbes* estimated that Newell had a net worth of US$Template:Narrow no-break space3.9 billion and owned at least one quarter of Valve. According to Charlie Fish, author of *The* *History of Video Games*, as of 2021 Newell was the richest person in the video game industry.

## Personal life

 File:Gabe Newell - 2002.jpg
Newell formerly suffered from Fuchs' dystrophy, a congenital disease which affects the cornea, but was cured by two cornea transplants in 2006 and 2007. He married Lisa Mennet on the same day he founded Valve with Harrington. They have two sons. The birth of his eldest son in the late 1990s served as inspiration for the final boss of *Half-Life*, as the couple considered childbirth to be the most frightening thing they could think of at the time. As of 2019, Newell and Mennet had divorced.

In 2011, Newell said his favorite video games included *Super Mario 64*, *Doom*, and a Burroughs mainframe version of *Star Trek*. *Doom* convinced him that games were the future of entertainment, and *Super Mario 64* convinced him that games are a form of art. Newell is a fan of the animated series *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic*. Newell also recorded a voice pack for *Dota 2*, a Valve-developed game, which referenced many previous statements and phrases from himself in a humorous manner.

Within the gaming community, Newell has the nickname Gaben, derived from his work email address. Newell said that he has tried to grow into his public image: "They hug me when they run into me. I'm not a hugging person, but that's what they want. I was with my kids the first time that happened in public, and my kids were pretty cool with it. But I wasn't. 'Dad, roll with it.' Even now, I'm learning from our customers."

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Newell resided in New Zealand with a group of friends electing to stay in Auckland rather than returning to Seattle once airlines travel restrictions were eased. As an expression of gratitude for New Zealand's hospitality, Newell and others planned a free event, "We Love Aotearoa", with live performances from musical artists across New Zealand. This was accompanied by VR stands for Valve games such as *Half-Life: Alyx* and *The Lab*. The event was postponed from August to December due to a lockdown induced by a second wave of COVID-19 in the country. In October, Newell applied for permanent residency in New Zealand, but said he did not intend to take Valve offices with him. In 2021, he returned to Valve in Seattle.

## References

1. ↑ Nichols, Georgia (November 2, 2019). Horoscope for Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019. "If Your Birthday Is Today [November 3]: Video game entrepreneur Gabe Newell (1962) shares your birthday."
2. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (November 7, 2012). Valve's Gabe Newell gets a 50th birthday present from 4chan.
3. ↑ D.I.C.E Special Awards.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Fish, Charlie (2021-05-30) (in en). *The History of Video Games*. White Owl. ISBN 978-1-5267-7900-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=TKMeEAAAQBAJ&dq=3&pg=PA59.
5. ↑ Good, Owen (July 21, 2012). This is Gabe Newell in his first year of high school.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 CVG Staff (September 28, 2007). Creative Minds: Gabe Newell. Future plc.
7. ↑ Gabe Newell: I learned more in three months at Microsoft than entire time at Harvard.
8. ↑ Narcisse, Evan (2012-05-01). Seems like *Doom* might have inspired Valve to build Steam (en-AU).
9. ↑ Gabe Newell made Windows a viable gaming platform, and Linux is next.
10. ↑ Dunn, Jeff (October 2013). Full steam ahead: the history of Valve (en).
11. ↑ Keighley, Geoff (November 12, 2004). The Final Hours of Half-Life 2. CBS Interactive.
12. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Chiang, Oliver (February 9, 2011). "The Master of Online Mayhem". *Forbes*. Archived from the original on February 13, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
13. ↑ Chiang, Oliver (November 13, 2010). Names You Need to Know in 2011: Gabe Newell.
14. ↑ Androvich, Mark (October 11, 2007). PS3 a "waste of time," says Valve's Newell. Gamer Network.
15. ↑ Bishop, Stuart (January 15, 2007). Gabe Newell: PS3 "a waste of everybody's time". Future plc.
16. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (June 15, 2010). Portal 2 coming to PlayStation 3. Gamer Network.
17. ↑ Fahey, Mike (September 9, 2010). Valve Figured Microsoft Would Fix The Xbox Live "Train Wreck". Gawker Media.
18. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Valve boss Gabe Newell calls Windows 8 a 'catastrophe'". *BBC News*. July 26, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
19. ↑ Purchese, Robert (November 15, 2012). Gabe Newell named as next AIAS Hall of Famer. Gamer Network.
20. ↑ Valve's Gabe Newell to be Honoured with BAFTA Fellowship (February 25, 2013).
21. ↑ Chalk, Andy (October 19, 2017). Gabe Newell is worth $5.5 billion, according to Forbes. *PC Gamer*.
22. ↑ Forbes Lists – Gabe Newell.
23. ↑ Gabe Newell (en).
24. ↑ Gabe Newell (en).
25. ↑ Chiang, Oliver (February 9, 2011). The Master of Online Mayhem.
26. ↑ Template:Cite AV media
27. ↑ Staff (November 30, 2004). Valve wins round one in Half-Life distribution debacle.
28. ↑ Valve Handbook for New Employees. Valve.
29. ↑ Tuned To The Dunes: A beach house honors the magic of surprise, the gift of time (May 16, 2003).
30. ↑ Gabe Newell.
31. ↑ Half-Life's Final Boss Was Based On Gabe Newell's Son (Being Born) (February 21, 2018).
32. ↑ US billionaire Gabe Newell, locked down in NZ, launching a gnome into space via Rocket Lab (en-NZ).
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Ingham, Tim (April 4, 2011). Gabe Newell: My 3 favourite games. Future plc.
34. ↑ Fahey, Mike (April 12, 2012). Gabe Newell Just Made My Little Pony Fans Extremely Happy. Gawker Media.
35. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
36. ↑ Goldman, Tom (March 5, 2011). Gabe Newell Gives Away Personal Steam Password. Defy Media.
37. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Peterson, Andrea (January 6, 2014). "Gabe Newell on Valve's intimate relationship with its customers". *The Washington Post*. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Billionaire US gaming tycoon Gabe Newell sets up event to thank NZ for having him during Covid-19". *TVNZ*. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
39. ↑ We Love Aotearoa (en-US).
40. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
41. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"NZ's newest billionaire: Covid-stranded American gaming CEO Gabe Newell applies for NZ residency". *TVNZ*. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
42. ↑ Gabe applies for NZ residency but isn't taking Valve with him (en-GB).
43. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Appleby, Luke (January 19, 2021). "'Realistic possibility' $48m esports tournament could be held in NZ, says gaming tycoon Gabe Newell". *TVNZ*. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
44. ↑ Gabe Newell Talks Steam Deck's Origin, Goals, and Future (July 28, 2021).

## Further reading

* Walker, John (November 21, 2007). RPS Exclusive: Gabe Newell Interview.
* Bramwell, Tom (August 29, 2007). Valve's Gabe Newell. Gamer Network.
* Keighley, Geoff (November 12, 2004). The Final Hours of Half-Life 2. CBS Interactive.
* Psycho\_byte (June 26, 2003). An interview with Gabe Newell. Game Central Network.
* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Peterson, Andrea (January 3, 2014). "Gabe Newell on what makes Valve tick". *The Washington Post*.

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