Gabe Newell shares vision for Oceanco's future
by Oceanco 26 Sep 03:39 PDT
At the opening of the 2025 Monaco Yacht Show, Gabe spoke for the first time about what drew him to Oceanco and what success will look like in the future.
Gabe is best known as a technologist, entrepreneur, and founder of Valve Corporation. But his involvement with Oceanco began not in business, but in experience - as a client. During the design and build of the 111m/364ft Leviathan, Gabe discovered an energizing partnership that organically transitioned into something more.
"When you're building a yacht with Oceanco, it's a very collaborative and enjoyable process - they make you feel like you are part of the team," Gabe explained. "I started to have conversations with Marcel and his team, and with Dr. Barwani, about whether I could help move the organization forward if I took a more direct role in ownership."
Gabe is part of the team, not just an investor. Looking forward, Gabe is not proposing any immediate change. Oceanco's culture, strategy and priorities remain firmly in place, while growth is about quality and impact, not scale: "Initially, my involvement is just about supporting the things the organization already knew it wanted to do," he emphasized.
One of those priorities was the recent acquisition of system integrator Alewijnse, which now joins Oceanco, Lateral, Mercury and Aluship within the Oceanco Group. Gabe described the move as part of a wider focus on strategic expansion, creating opportunities for more integration and closer collaboration across industries.
Longer-term, he sees potential to share his background in technology development. "Just about everything I've been involved in over the years has moved some aspect of technology forward in a way that benefits customers," he explained. "Over time, we will start to identify interesting technologies, prototype them and move them into production. But for now, there's important work to do simply supporting what Oceanco already does brilliantly."
Speaking from the unusual position of being both a shareholder and a client, Gabe explained how he sees Oceanco as a business. "We are a customer-focused yacht builder," he said. His ambition is to help Oceanco increase the long-term value of its yachts for owners and their teams, such as shaping future projects that build on the achievements of Leviathan by pushing further into crew-centric design.
"What gets me out of bed in the morning is doing work that communities value," Gabe concluded. "I care enormously about being someone who can add value to the yachting community, so entering this world is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. At this stage, I feel very much part of the team and see how we can be a force for good in the industry."