Doping of a hydride (H-) into an oblate-shaped gold cluster [Au-9(PPh3)(8)](3+) was observed for the first time by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Density functional theory calculations for the product [Au9H(PPh3)(8)](2+) demonstrated that the (Au9H)(2+) core can be viewed as a nearly spherical superatom with a closed electronic shell. The hydride-doped superatom (Au9H)(2+) was successfully converted to the well-known superatom Au-11(3+), providing a new atomically precise synthesis of Au clusters via a bottom-up approach.