• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    6 months ago

    Yeah, but Gabe is down to 25% ownership.

    He could be pushed out at anytime. It’s this weird situation where if a serious challenger to Steam really takes off, the 75% may demand Steam gets shittier to make more money.

    But Gabe won’t last forever anyways, who knows what will happen without him. Which means people do want some kind of challenger to prevent a monopoly, but that just makes the other scenario more likely

    Steam is already a huge outlier

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        Not sure, apparently the 25% figure is really new, Wikipedia is sourcing something from 2017 that says he has 50+.

        This is the most up to date I can find that attributes a source

        https://www.guru3d.com/story/microsoft-reportedly-readies-billion-bid-to-acquire-valve-steam/

        Insights from Dior, a prominent figure in the Counter-Strike community, reveal that Gabe Newell owns less than 25% of Valve. This suggests that a significant portion of Newell’s wealth is tied to his equity in the company. The decision to sell Valve wouldn’t rest solely with Newell; numerous employees who likely hold stock options could also have a say through a voting process if an offer were made.

        So it sounds like a lot was given to employees from the beginning, which track with Gabe.

        Then he may have cashed out a couple times, but I doubt that when he could just do the billionaire thing where he borrows against his stock counting on the value increasing enough to pay off the last with a new?

        But then again Gabe is different and might not do that out of principle.

        It’s not publicly traded, so I guess we don’t really know unless Valve discloses who owns what. Which I just realized is pretty concerning on its own.