- President & Co-Founder of Valve Corporation, Gabe Newell, is finally enjoying the fruits of his intellectual labour after taking delivery of the Oceanco superyacht Leviathan.
- Priced at a staggering US$500 million, in addition to the 364-footer, Newell has also recently acquired Oceanco itself from fellow billionaire Mohammed Al Barwani.
- Gabe Newell’s current net worth is approximately US$11 billion.
Gabe Newell has essentially been treating his life like a video game.
Particularly that end stage of post-campaign completion, where you knock out whatever side quests tickle your fancy and throw random cash at ridiculous vehicle upgrades (and the shop that it came from).
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At least that’s how we’re characterising the Harvard dropout, early Microsoft employee, and video game developer of Valve/Steam renown’s recent shopping spree – not only has he taken delivery of his US$500 million superyacht Leviathan, built by Oceanco… he’s also bought the entire Dutch shipyard itself for “an undisclosed sum” from Omani businessman Mohammed Al Barwani.
“Working with the team at Oceanco is incredibly enjoyable and a lot of fun; everybody is professional, creative and dynamic,” said Newell (via Boat International).
“We knew we were asking for unusual things, and Oceanco embraced it with open arms. Not only have we designed a very unusual yacht that leans into Oceanco’s strengths of innovation and design, but the team has also been willing to collaborate with us on evolving the process.”
Oceanco CEO Marcel Onkenhout explained: “What makes Leviathan so unique is the way she came to life. From the very start, we knew nothing about her would be done in a traditional way.”
“We were welcomed into the team alongside Gabe and everyone who would ultimately be involved in operating her. It is this level of collaboration that sets Leviathan apart from anything we’ve built before.”
Onkenhout added that, following its sea trials, Leviathan – which spans 364ft (111 metres) in length with a beam of 58ft (17.7 metres) – is officially the “most comfortable yacht ever designed, built and delivered by Oceanco”; while the ship’s captain Alan Pike revealed the vessel is “remarkably quiet” with extraordinarily low noise and vibration levels (even at full speed).
In lieu of more traditional (and more high-maintenance) materials such as teak decks and wooden handrails, GabeN and Oceanco have opted for composite alternatives and full-height glass superstructure bulkheads to reduce upkeep while still looking like half a billion dollars. Durable yet easy-to-care options such as honed stone and natural wool carpets were also chosen to minimise tedious maintenance.
The most notable features?
There’s the almost obligatory gaming lounge (15 high-performance stations, two racing sims) on the bridge deck, a 250-square-metre beach club with spa and bar, diving platforms, a basketball court, as well as a pair of gyms.
If you were to find yourself on the main staircase, you’d come across a glass panel engraved with the names of the 2,000+ involved with bringing Leviathan to life.
Beyond that, however, are the far less common submarine garage, dive centre, full laboratory, hospital with a full suite of medical equipment and live-in nurse, plus a 3D printing workshop – necessary additions considering Gabe Newell’s other great passion of marine research and conservation.
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​Side note: as the proprietor of marine research organisation Inkfish, prior to the arrival of Leviathan, GabeN already owned several superyachts and a “small fleet of sea-faring vehicles,” including the research ship Limiting Factor, which holds the record for the deepest crewed dives in all five oceans.
Leviathan is powered by diesel-electric propulsion mated to battery storage that enables extended periods of silent, emission-free operation. On the environmentally-friendliness front, the yacht also houses an advanced wastewater treatment system and a waste-heat recovery system.​
According to Fortune, Newell is now awaiting another 100-metre research vessel estimated to cost US$300 million (and ostensibly from Oceanco).
