Gabe Newell
Co-founder of Valve, creator of Half-Life and the Steam store
- Age
- 64 yrs
- Birthday in 363 days
- Works listed
- 2
- Video game, Platform
- Honours
- 1
- Most recent 2013
- Profile views
- 2
- 0 followers
Gabe Newell is an American businessman who worked at Microsoft for 13 years before co-founding Valve in 1996. Valve made the Half-Life, Portal and Counter-Strike games and runs Steam, the world’s largest PC game store. He is the richest person in the games industry.
Biography
Microsoft
Newell grew up in Davis, California, and left Harvard to join Microsoft in 1983, working on early Windows versions. He has called himself the “producer” of the first three versions of Windows.
Valve
In 1996 he and Mike Harrington founded Valve. Half-Life (1998) was acclaimed for its storytelling and spawned mods such as Counter-Strike.
Steam
Valve launched Steam in 2003 to update its games, and it became the dominant digital store for PC games. Valve is privately held and has a famously flat structure.
Hardware and science
Valve released the Steam Deck handheld in 2022. Newell also co-founded the brain–computer interface company Starfish Neuroscience and the marine research group Inkfish.
Timeline
-
1962
Born in Aspen, Colorado, United States
-
1983
Joins Microsoft
-
1996
Co-founds Valve
-
1998
Half-Life
-
2003
Steam launched
-
2007
Portal
-
2020
Half-Life: Alyx
-
2022
Steam Deck
Notable works
-
1998
Half-Life Video game
Valve team.
-
2003
Steam Platform
Awards and honours
-
D.I.C.E. Hall of Fame
2013
Did you know?
-
1
Fans call him “Gaben”.
-
2
He lived in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
3
He collects knives.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Gabe Newell?
Gabe Newell is an American businessman who worked at Microsoft for 13 years before co-founding Valve in 1996. Valve made the Half-Life, Portal and Counter-Strike games and runs Steam, the world’s largest PC game store. He is the richest person in the games industry.
How old is Gabe Newell?
Gabe Newell is 64 years old, born on 3 November 1962 in Aspen, Colorado, United States.
Where is Gabe Newell from?
Gabe Newell was born in Aspen, Colorado, United States.
What is Gabe Newell known for?
Gabe Newell is best known for Co-founding Valve (1996); Half-Life; Steam; Steam Deck.
What awards has Gabe Newell received?
Notable honours include D.I.C.E. Hall of Fame (2013).
References
- Gabe Newell — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Gabe Newell — IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Gabe Newell (Q347418) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Gabe Newell”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Gabe Newell.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/gabe-newell
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Technology
Technology
Sachin Bansal
Co-founder of Flipkart and founder of Navi
Born 1981
Technology
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO of Microsoft
Born 1967
Technology
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys co-founder and architect of Aadhaar
Born 1955
Technology
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder of the hotel chain OYO
Technology
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder of the digital payments company Paytm
Born 1978
Technology
Shantanu Narayen
Chairman and CEO of Adobe