Newell: I'd Rather See Valve "Disintegrate" than Fall into EA's Hands

Gabe Newell, Managing Director of Valve, made it quite clear recently that he’d rather see his company “disintegrate” than be absorbed into a larger company that would scavenge it for resources. In an interview with The New York Times, Newell stated, “It’s way more likely we would [let Valve go bankrupt] than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate."

According to two anonymous New York Times sources, Valve has been pursued by Electronic Arts over the years. Offers as high as $1 billion have been rejected by Newell, a figure that suggests EA has been throwing bids at Valve for quite some time now. Michael Pachter, of Pach-Attack! fame, and analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimates Valve’s worth at around $2.5 billion.

By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: September 10, 2012