Gabe Newell


Gabe Logan Newell, nicknamed Gaben, is an American businessman, the co-founder and president of the video game developer and digital distribution company Valve. Educated at Davis Senior High School and attending Harvard University from 1980 until dropping out in 1983, Newell joined Microsoft, where he, over the course of thirteen years, helped create the first iterations of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Together with Mike Harrington, he left Microsoft in 1996 to found Valve.

Career

Newell was born in Colorado on November 3, 1962, later attending Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. Following that, he attended Harvard University from 1980 until 1983, but dropped out before graduating to work for the American technology company Microsoft. Newell then spent the next thirteen years working at the company, serving as a producer of the Windows 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03 operating systems. Newell later stated that he learned more during his first three months at Microsoft than he ever did at Harvard, explaining one of the reasons why he had dropped out. Inspired by Michael Abrash, who left Microsoft to work on the computer game Quake at id Software, Newell and another Microsoft employee, Mike Harrington, left Microsoft to found Valve in 1996. Newell and Harrington used their money to fund Valve through the development of Half-Life and the GoldSrc game engine. During production on Half-Life 2, he spent several months focusing on the Steam project.
In 2007, Newell openly expressed his displeasure over developing his software for gaming consoles, particularly the PlayStation 3. In regard to the system, Newell was once quoted as claiming that developing processes for the console in general was "a waste of everybody's time" and "a disaster on many levels... I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a do-over. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it'." Nevertheless, at Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2010, Newell appeared on stage at Sony's keynote; while acknowledging his past outspoken comments on console development, he discussed the open nature of Sony's PlayStation 3 platform, and announced Portal 2 for the console, remarking that with Steamworks support it would be the best version for any console. Newell has also criticized the Xbox Live service, referring to it as "a train wreck". He was also critical of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, calling it a "catastrophe" and "a threat" to the open nature of PC gaming.

Achievements

In December 2010, Forbes named Newell as "A Name You Should Know", primarily for his work on Steam having partnerships with multiple major developers.
In 2013, Newell was added to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
In March 2013, Newell received the BAFTA Fellowship award for his contributions to the video game industry.
In October 2017, Forbes listed him among the 100 richest people in the United States, with an estimated net worth of 5.5 billion.

Personal life

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. The couple has two sons, including Gray. The birth of Gray 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.
In 2011, Newell stated that some of his favorite video games were 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 also a brony of the animated series . 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 he is jokingly known as Gaben which is derived from his work email address. Newell stated 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."
Newell was travelling in New Zealand with a group of friends as the Coronavirus pandemic broke out. Rather than returning to Seattle, they elected to stay in Auckland. As an expression of gratitude for the 'hospitality' that New Zealand provided, he, racecar driver Alex Riberas, and others planned an event called 'Thank You Aotearoa' that featured live performances from musical artists across New Zealand and other activities.