Gabe Newell

Gabe Newell
Newell in 2018
Born	Gabe Logan Newell (1962-11-03) November 3, 1962 (age 62)[1][2] Colorado, U.S.
Other names	Gaben
Education	Harvard University (dropped out)
Years active	1983–present
Known for	Co-founding Valve
Title	President of Valve Corporation Co-founder of the Heart of Racing
Spouse	Lisa Mennet Newell ​ ​ (m. 1996, divorced)​
Awards	BAFTA Fellowship (2013) AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2013)[3]
Gabe Newell's voice Newell introducing Valve Corporation at the 2013 LinuxCon
Website	valvesoftware.com

Gabe Logan Newell (born November 3, 1962), also known by his nickname Gaben, is an American video game developer and businessman. He is the president and co-founder of the video game company Valve Corporation.

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. In 1996, he and Mike Harrington left Microsoft to found Valve and fund the development of their first game, Half-Life (1998). Harrington sold his stake in Valve to Newell and left in 2000. Newell led the development of Valve's digital distribution service, Steam, which launched in 2003 and controlled most of the market for downloaded PC games by 2011.

As of 2021, Newell owned at least one quarter of Valve. He has been estimated as one of the wealthiest people in the United States and the wealthiest person in the video games industry, with a net worth of $9.5 billion as of 2024. He is also the owner of the marine research organization Inkfish and the neuroscience company Starfish Neuroscience.