Gabe Newell just bought a leading superyacht company, joining as a scuba diving “hands-on visionary”
Gabe Newell is one of those figures who appear in the news every so often for seemingly all the good reasons. He’s probably one of the few billionaires who is universally loved, at least by PC gamers, and now he’s decided to buy Oceanco, a Dutch superyacht building company. He is the new owner and enters the world of superyacht building as a “hands-on visionary”.
“Gabe Newell is not entering this world as a financier or a strategist, but as a hands-on visionary who respects the sea, the craft, and above all, the people who make it possible. He wants Oceanco to continue on what it already does best: placing people first. This is not about buying a yacht company. It’s about plugging into a team and exploring what kind of future they can create when nothing holds them back.”
Source: Oceanco via PR Newswire
It’s an interesting acquisition, but not a surprising one if you’ve been keeping up to date with Gabe’s whimsical lifestyle. He recently confirmed he lives on a boat in an interview that came out of the blue. Not just any boat, a $350-400 million Y722 superyacht built by Oceanco.
Appearing on the YouTube channel owned by Zalkar Saliev with practically no subscribers (it now has over 1,600) and no prior videos, he talked about his daily routine that involves getting up to work 7 days a week, scuba diving, maybe going for a second scuba dive, or working out at the gym.
It seems that much is going to change as a result of the new ownership. Oceanco has previously been led by the Barwani family, and they will “remain active in the yachting world through their continued ownership of Turquoise Yachts, the leading Turkish custom yacht builder.” Gabe has been a longtime supporter of Oceanco, and we imagine he still has time to be the face of Valve alongside his other ventures, such as Neuroscience. In between scuba dives, of course.
About the Author