GABE NEWELL

$3.5

BILLION  SELF-MADE SCORE: * SOURCE: VIDEO GAMES AGE: 56 RESIDENCE: SEATTLE PHILANTHROPY SCORE: N.A. For years, Newell and his company Valve Corp. have dominated online sales of PC games through Steam, its digital video game distribution platform. Facing fresh competition, especially from Fortnite creator Epic Games, Valve has been forced to cut its take on games sold via its platform. Newell dropped out of Harvard to become an early Microsoft employee, before cofounding Valve in 1996.