It turns out taking a small cut of every game sold on your platform is a good way to make a living, especially if you're at the top of the company doing it. Gabe Newell, the founder of Valve and the unofficial lord of PC gaming, has entered the Forbes top 100-richest list for the first time this year, with a cited net fortune in the region of $5.5 billion.
The actual list of the world's richest is 400 long and features familiar names at the top end. Bill Gates still tops them all with just shy of $90 billion, Jeff Bezos is in second with a similar number, while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberg has crept into fourth place with just over $70 billion. To make you feel unsuccessful, he's only 33 years old.
Both Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are in the top 10 as well, making up a dominant showing for technology firms in the Forbes list, but Gabe Newell's entry in the top 100 is an impressive gain for the 54-year-old. He currently sits at 97, leaving the likes of PCGamer to make their fair share of "3" jokes surrounding that gaming franchise we need not mention.
Although we wouldn't accuse Gabe Newell of chasing money, it's easy to understand why Valve has transitioned away from developing games and into making money through Steam sales, as it's clearly working well for the company. With more than 125 million Steam users all buying games which throw a few dollars Valve's way on each purchase, it's no wonder that the Valve head ended up on this list sooner or later.
