Gabe Newell
American computer programmer and businessman
Source: Wikidata — retrieved 8/30/2026 (wikidata)
Profile Summary
Gabe Newell is an American computer programmer and businessman based in Washington. He is listed in the media industry and has an estimated net worth of ~$9.5 billion. Wikidata
Business & SEC Activity
Newell is identified as a computer programmer and businessman. News reports identify him as the head of Valve, a video-game company. Wikidata NewsAPI
Political Activity
Federal Election Commission records show 16 contributions totaling $40,310 from August 18, 2006, through April 30, 2023. Of that amount, $30,400 went to Democratic committees or candidates, while $9,910 went to PACs or other recipients; the largest listed recipients were Friends of Maria ($12,000), the Washington State Democratic Central Committee ($6,600), Cantwell Victory 2024 ($6,600), Biden for President ($2,800), and FDL Action PAC ($2,400). FEC
In the News
Recent articles reported that Newell was connected to an $800 million deep-sea vessel, alongside another vessel reportedly already in development. Other coverage described a Florida mansion purchase priced at $70.8 million and revisited Newell's statement that piracy is primarily a service issue rather than a pricing issue. NewsAPI
U.S. Presence
Political Contributions
By Party
Top Recipients
Matched by name only. These are the donations the FEC lists under this person’s name — so a different person with the same name can show up here too.
Score Breakdown
The PBS is a weighted average of 2 components. The formula is open and versioned — the weight percentages below show how much each component contributes to the final score.
Evidenced charitable giving — built on what they actually give each year, not parked assets. Dominated by generosity (annual giving relative to net worth — the share of your fortune you give), plus the absolute scale of that giving, plus a small nudge for signing the Giving Pledge (a commitment, not a realized action).
Data: ProPublica 990 charitable disbursements, net worth, The Giving Pledge registry
No giving data on file. That is a gap in our sources, not a finding that this person gives nothing — and because the component still counts as zero, it holds this score down. Know of a gift we are missing? Tell us and we will source it.
How much sourced, public accountability data exists — net worth, political contributions, SEC filings, foundation 990s, news coverage, and a verified profile. More public disclosure scores higher.
Data: FEC, SEC EDGAR, ProPublica 990s, GDELT / NewsAPI, Wikidata
Formula (v2): PBS = 65% x Philanthropy + 35% x Transparency
Scored on 8/31/2026 on a 0–100 scale. The score uses only the signals we have populated data for. Goal Impact, Controversy, and Community Approval are deferred until that data exists — Phase 1 goal adoption, controversy detection, and community votes respectively.
All data is sourced from public records. Each section links to its original source. View on Wikidata