Early Life
Gabe Logan Newell was born on November 3, 1962, in Colorado, and grew up in Davis, California. He attended Davis Senior High School and later enrolled at Harvard University in 1980 to study programming. However, he dropped out in 1983 to pursue opportunities in the tech industry.
Rise to Success
Newell's career began at Microsoft, where he spent 13 years working on the first three releases of the Windows operating system. Inspired by the success of the game *Doom*, Newell, along with Mike Harrington, left Microsoft in 1996 to found Valve. They funded the development of their first game, *Half-Life* (1998). Newell led the development of Steam, Valve's digital distribution service, which launched in 2003 and became a dominant force in the PC gaming market.
Key Business Strategies
Newell's strategies have been key to Valve's success. He has been innovative in game distribution, focused on both software and hardware, and kept Valve private. He also adopted a flat organizational structure, empowering employees to make decisions and work on projects of their choice. Valve's success is due to their creation of iconic games like *Half-Life*, *Portal*, and *Counter-Strike*, as well as their innovative Steam platform.
Philanthropy
Newell is involved in various philanthropic endeavors. In 2020, he and Valve employee Yahn Bernier created a car racing team, Heart of Racing, to raise funds for children's charities in Seattle and New Zealand. He also donated to the Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, and has supported marine research through his organization Inkfish.
