Billionaire gaming CEO buys superyacht company that built his and Jeff Bezos’ boats

Some gamers spend weekends on the couch. Others spend them luxuriating in the most expensive assets money can buy.

Gabe Newell, the cofounder of video game developer Valve Corporation, has purchased Oceanco, the Dutch builder behind some of the world’s most prominent superyachts.

The amount that Newell, who Forbes reports is worth $9.5 billion, paid for the shipbuilder has not been disclosed. The previous owner, Mohammed Al Barwani, purchased Oceanco in 2010.

Neither Newell nor Oceanco responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Newell’s Valve is behind some of the most beloved video games, including the “Half-Life” and “Portal” series. It also created Steam, the biggest PC gaming platform, and the handheld PC gaming device Steam Deck.

With Oceanco, he’s moving into sun decks and main decks.

The shipyard has built some of the most renowned superyachts and only delivers a couple of fully customized vessels, which cost well into the nine figures, each year.

Its largest build to date is Koru, Jeff Bezos’s 127-meter-long sailing yacht, which was delivered in 2023 to much fanfare and has been praised for its aesthetics.

The Koru build had its controversial moments. Oceanco initially requested that a historic bridge be dismantled to deliver the yacht, but then rescinded the request. Separately, the company was fined for failing to properly trace the teak used to craft some of Koru’s furniture and interiors.

Oceanco is also behind Alfa Nero, the 82-meter yacht seized from a Russian oligarch in 2023, and Bravo Eugenia, the 109-meter yacht owned by billionaire Jerry Jones.

Newell owns at least one Oceanco design: Draak, a 91.5-meter-long yacht with a helipad, spa, gym, and swimming pool. He is also rumored to be the future owner of Oceanco Y722, a 111-meter project expected to be delivered later this year.

While the prices of Oceanco’s new deliveries are largely kept under wraps, the six yachts for sale from the builder range in price from $5.8 million for a 49-meter vessel built in 1995 to $341 million for a 105-meter superyacht built in 2000.

Newell will take a hands-off approach and plans to “leave the team alone,” according to a press release from August 1 announcing the acquisition. There is hope, however, that his tech background will influence production.

“What happens when you let yachtbuilders talk to worldbuilders? When craftsmen get access to tech usually reserved for game devs and mad scientists?” the press release says. “You get innovation that doesn’t just look good. It feels good.”

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