We might not have a clue how much the company behind the Steam gaming platform is worth. But we do know the value of Valve’s co-founder and president. Forbes magazine always puts together their list of wealthiest people in America, and this year Gabe Newell placed 97th. That might seem pretty low on the scale, but Newell is ahead of George Lucas ( Star Wars creator), Steven Spielberg (film director), and Travis Kalanick (the founder of Uber).
Newell’s gaming platform and development company, Valve, is a privately owned one. Most large companies within the gaming industry, like Take-Two, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, for example, are publicly traded. This means we as the public can see what their worth is. Valve’s worth remains behind closed doors, ever tempting us with its mystery.
Newell’s net worth, however, can be discovered. He is worth a whopping $5.5 billion. This is actually a massive increase from the last time Forbes made their list in January 2017. Back then, he was worth $4.1 billion. An increase in wealth to the tune of $1.4 billion since the beginning of the year is pretty insane.
Compared to the top wealthiest people in America, Newell still seems like an infant. Bill Gates tops the list with an $89 billion worth. He’s followed closely by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($81.5 billion), and Mark Zuckerberg fills out the trilogy of wealthiest with a $71 billion fortune.
With Newell’s worth at $5.5 billion, it’s clear that Valve isn’t doing too bad. Here’s hoping they use some of that wealth to make some new games…
Source: GameSpot