One of the richest men in the world Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp. with fellow Billionaire Bill Gates has died at age 65.
The sports, media and real estate mogul died on Monday in Seattle from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from Vulcan Inc., his investment firm.
Allen’s many and diverse investments and sizable charitable donations has its source in his once-major stake in Washington-based Microsoft. He is valued at $26.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Allen, along with Gates, helped create an entire industry selling software for a new breed of smaller, more affordable and widely accessible computers.
“I am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends,” Gates said in a statement. “Paul was a true partner and dear friend. Personal computing would not have existed without him.”
In 1983, Allen stepped down as an officer of Microsoft as a result of his struggles with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2009, Allen was treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which two weeks ago he said had returned.
Tributes have continued to pour in following the demise of Allen. Sports Illustrated described Allen as a “A high-Tech Demigod.”
“He is one of the richest men in history, a figure of such dizzying wealth and eclectic tastes that he recently donated $100 million to brain research and $25 million to the search for extraterrestrial life,” the magazine wrote in a 2007 profile.
As part of his contributions to Microsoft Allen came up with the name for Microsoft, a company whose ubiquitous products include the Windows operating system and the Office suite of software.
Born on January 21, 1953, to Kenneth and Faye Allen in Seattle, Paul Gardner Allen went to the Lakeside School, where he met a younger Gates and the two worked on early computer programs in the school’s lab.
He also attended Washington State University but didn’t graduate, dropping out and moving to Massachusetts to be closer to fellow computer aficionado Gates, who was attending Harvard University.
According to Bloomberg, in 1975, they founded a company they called Micro-Soft in Albuquerque, New Mexico after Allen saw a new Altair computer kit on the cover of Popular Electronics magazine and realized computer prices would drop and software would be necessary.
As they struggled to produce operating software for Altair and International Business Machines microcomputers, Allen was regarded as the brains of the partnership, while Gates was the marketing whiz, according to Laura Rich, author of “The Accidental Zillionaire,” an unauthorized biography of Allen.
Allen, a Microsoft general partner, initially held the title of vice president. When he left in 1983 for health reasons, he was executive vice president in charge of research and new product development. He remained on the board until 2000 and was a senior strategy adviser after that.
“Paul Allen’s contributions to our company, our industry and to our community are indispensable,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a statement. “In his own quiet and persistent way, he created magical products, experiences and institutions, and in doing so, he changed the world.”
Allen was the world’s 27th richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Vulcan, formed in 1986 as the chief investment vehicle for his life after Microsoft, became one of the most prominent family offices globally thanks to its high-profile bets on real estate and space. The billionaire, who signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, said he planned to dedicate the majority of his fortune to philanthropic endeavors including wildlife conservation and brain-cancer research.
“Paul wasn’t content with starting one company,” Gates said Monday. “He channeled his intellect and compassion into a second act focused on improving people’s lives and strengthening communities in Seattle and around the world.”
An avid sports fan, Allen bought the Portland Trail Blazers, a National Basketball Association franchise, in 1988 for $70 million. That investment was a success — the team repeatedly made the NBA playoffs after his purchase, and by 2018 Forbes estimated the team was worth $1.3 billion.
“Paul Allen was the ultimate trailblazer – in business, philanthropy and in sports,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As one of the longest-tenured owners in the NBA, Paul brought a sense of discovery and vision to every league matter large and small.”
In 1997, Allen bought the Seattle Seahawks, a National Football League team, and took a minority stake in a professional soccer team, the Seattle Sounders. He also bought The Sporting News.
Among more mainstream businesses, Allen acquired 80 percent of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. in 1993 for $242 million and sold almost half of that company’s stock to Home Shopping Network for $209 million in HSN shares. He bought control of Charter Communications in 1998. Charter’s 2016 purchase and merger with Time Warner Cable made it the second-largest U.S. cable company.
Allen is survived by his sister, Jody Allen, who is a co-founder and executive director of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
