Paul Allen Biography & Net Worth

Paul Allen Biography & Net Worth

Paul Allen was an American business tycoon, investor, and noted humanitarian. He was best known for being a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. Founded along with childhood friend and business partner Bill Gates in 1975, Microsoft helped ignite the microcomputer revolution of the 70s and 80s, later making the company the largest personal computer software venture in the world. In 2018, Allen was ranked by Forbes as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $20.9 billion at the time of his passing.

Paul Allen’s Early Life

Paul Gardner Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, United States on January 21, 1953, to Edna Faye Allen and Kenneth Samuel Allen. His Mother was employed as a librarian just like his father, who was an associate director of libraries at the University of Washington libraries.

His parents helped him and his sister develop a variety of interests, as they frequently took the kids to galleries, museums and concerts. Allen starts showing his passion in science from a young age. At age ten, his mother would hold science society meetings for his grade school. He attended a private school in Seattle named Lakeside School. It was in the school that he met Bill Gates and they became close friends. At that time, Allen and Gates were 14 and 12 years old respectively, and were both computer enthusiasts. They started developing their programming skills and shared computer systems and ideas.

Scoring 1600on his SAT earned Allen an admission into Washington State University but he decided to not continue his studies after two years so as to work in Boston for Honeywell as a programmer. He also convinced his friend Gates to drop out of Harvard University and work on a rather innovative project.

Paul Allen’s Career

Along with Bill Gates, Paul Allen started marketing a programming language interpreter called BASIC in the year 1975. That same year, they established their company Microsoft based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Five years afterwards, they teamed with IBM to develop IBM computers. It did not take long for Microsoft to become a global brand, and the company’s yearly revenue as 2015 was $86.83 billion.

In 1986, Allen founded Vulcan Inc., and it led him to form the investment arm Vulcan Capital. He opened its office in Palo Alto, California in 2013. The company has made investments in several leading companies like Redfin, Audience Inc., and Decide.com.

Paul Allen holds 43 patents from the United States Patents and Trademark Department. He also collaborated with David Liddle and they founded Interval Research Corporation. He acquired Charter Communications in 1998, and had 80% of ownership in Ticketmaster.

Allen was the owner of the Seattle Sounders FC of the Major League Soccer. He bought the National Football League team Seattle Seahawks in 1996. He purchased the National Basketball Association team Portland Trail Blazers in 1988.

In 2004, this business mogul became the exclusive investor of the commercial aircraft SpaceShipOne. He announced his intention to create Stratolaunch Systems in 2011. He has also expanded his reach by venturing into real estate business and invested in millions of sport and events centers.

Awards & Achievements

He was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Seattle Business Magazine in 2014. For his ownership of Seattle Seahawks team, he was honored with the Vince Lombardi. His acts of philanthropy earned him the Inside Philanthropy’s “Philanthropist of the Year” in 2014.

Paul Allen has received honorary degrees from various universities. He was bestowed with the Vanguard Award by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in 2008. In addition to his big list of award winnings, he has won the Champion for Global Health Award, Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and an Ischia Humanitarian Award.

Personal Life, Death

As wealthy and accomplished as he was, Allen was never married. However, during his lifetime, he had many girlfriends but ensured to keep details of his personal life very private indeed. At one point, he was romantically associated with Jerry Hall who traveled to France with him on his Yacht after breaking up with Mick Jagger.

Allen hired Abbie Philips to run his film and television production company Storyopolis. Following a twist of events, she sued him for sexually assaulting her

In 1982, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and underwent bone marrow transplant and many rounds of radiation therapy. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2009 which was successfully treated. However, it relapsed in October 2018 and led to his death on 15 October the same years.

In his memoir, Allen mentioned that his friend and business partner Bill Gates tried to rob him off his share from Microsoft while he was down with cancer.

Mr. Allen is considered one of the most admired business magnates in the world. As a philanthropist, he made several notable contributions to many charitable organizations in his career that lasted for over four decades. His sister, Jody Allen, is also a businesswoman and leading philanthropist.

Paul Allen Net Worth

As at the time of his passing, Paul Allen net worth was more than $20.9 billion. He made this colossal fortune by founding Microsoft. He is one of the world’s richest people according to Forbes. His wealth sprung from various sources. Along with Microsoft, Allen founded several other companies and institutes including Stratolaunch Systems, Allen Institute for Brain Science, Institute for Cell Science, and Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He is the owner of the film and television production company Storyopolis. He ran Vulcan Productions as an executive producer and has produced many documentaries, films, and television shows.