Gabe Newell: The Next Videogame Billionaire?

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Gabe Newell: The Next Videogame Billionaire?



Forbes Magazine calls Gabe Newell of Valve the next "billionaire of videogames."

Billionaires made by videogames are rare. They're even rarer when not working for a company like Nintendo or Blizzard. According to a Forbes article, Gabe Newell is closing in on these executives thanks to his futuristic vision as the co-founder of Valve.

However, Newell's literal vision was almost completely lost years ago. The article talks about a situation in 2006 and 2007 where Newell was forced to undergo double cornea transplants to fix a congenital disease called Fuchs Dystrophy. Newell once said he had "dead-people eyes," but after the operations could "see better than [he] ever had before."

And now, Forbes puts Newell on the track to becoming a seriously rich man. It estimates that Steam, the digital distribution platform with over 30 million users [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104474-30-Million-Steam-Accounts-Cant-Be-Wrong], owns 50-70% of the $4 billion download market, which exceeded physical PC unit sales in 2010 for the first time. Newell says Valve is "tremendously profitable," with analysts estimating the company earned revenue in the "high hundreds of millions of dollars" in 2010 due to reported year over year growth of 200%.

It's no wonder that Newell has no interest [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103178-Valve-Not-Interested-in-Selling-Out] in selling Valve. He believes that the company brings in more money per employee than Google or Apple. Total value of Valve is estimated at $2 to $4 billion, for whatever those unconfirmed estimates are worth.

The success of Steam apparently helps out the entire industry, too. Forbes writes that publishers earn a profit margin of 70% on Steam, while at retail that'd be more than cut in half at 30%.

So while Newell is probably earning a mint for his time, it's a mint that goes back into gaming as a whole. I hear he's also really hot [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94198-Gabe-Newell-Was-Second-Place-in-Victorias-Secret-Contest].

Source: Forbes [http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html]

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Wakefield

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Aug 3, 2009
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I wish he would funnel that money into actually making Episode 3 =/

But good for him, Valve is awesome and so is Steam.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Tom Goldman said:
So while Newell is probably earning a mint for his time, it's a mint that goes back into gaming as a whole. I hear he's also really hot [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94198-Gabe-Newell-Was-Second-Place-in-Victorias-Secret-Contest].
This is why I can never quite hate 4chan.
 

L34dP1LL

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Mar 6, 2010
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No wonder they're in no hurry to finish Ep. 3, they can just ride the Steam train. See what I did there?
 

Waaghpowa

Needs more Dakka
Apr 13, 2010
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Good for Gabe, out of all the Developing companies Valve has got to be the best of them all.

70% protif margin on steam? With a profit margin like that, why wouldn't someone use steam to sell their game?
 

Evilsanta

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Apr 12, 2010
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Good for him! Though I am one of those that helped him get that billions...

Damn Steam taking all my money...
 

Brotherofwill

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Jan 25, 2009
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Hahaha. The Gabe Newell submission is priceless.

As easy as it would be to post a fat joke, I respect the guy. Valve is overrated, but Newell is a genius.
 

Count Igor

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May 5, 2010
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L34dP1LL said:
No wonder they're in no hurry to finish Ep. 3, they can just ride the Steam train. See what I did there?
i c wut u did thar!

OT: Good for him! I do like Valve, they've got to be the best company. In the world.
Ever.
In History.
Of the Earth.
Of forever.
 

Zer_

Rocket Scientist
Feb 7, 2008
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I remember Gabe getting 2nd place in that Victoria's Secret contest. That was an amazing day!

Good on Gabe too. Honestly, Steam has its issues, but Gabe's vision is a good one. And I can respect Valve for the quality games they've made thus far.
 

Delusibeta

Reachin' out...
Mar 7, 2010
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hazabaza1 said:
And around half of it is from people buying TF2 keys.
Actually, I'd argue that even if they dropped all third party games tomorrow, they'll survive on Counter Strike sales alone.
 
Sep 17, 2009
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Good for him! As long as Valve continues to churn out the free updates for their games then he deserves his money. Steam was such a genius concept.