The tech world has been in grieve since news broke that Microsoft co-founder Paul Gardner Allen has lost the battle to cancer. Allen which is one of the pioneers of modern day tech battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier in 1982 which led to him leaving Microsoft, but has been okay ever since. And then it resurfaced while Allen made it public about 2 weeks ago. Allen had no marriages nor children.
This article is in respect to a great man who was behind one of the biggest innovations in personal computers Paul Allen. Here a little about the philanthropist.
Bill Gates And Allen Bonded Since Cradle
Allen studied at Lakeside in Seattle where he became friends with Gates. He went on to Washington State University, studied for 2 years and then picked up a programming job at Honeywell in Boston. Honeywell isn’t far from Harvard University where gates was studying. He encouraged him to drop out also just so they could start Microsoft.
Allen was a big part of Microsoft
Allen came up with the name Microsoft according to reports in a magazine article. Allen was a programmer who was also very instrumental in making deals happen for the company during their early days. He spearheaded a deal that set Microsoft on it’s path to success. But had to leave the company in 1982 while Bill gates his associate.
Gates reportedly asked Allen to give him some of his shares to compensate for the higher amount of work being performed by Gates. According to Allen, Gates said since he “did almost everything on BASIC”, the company should be split 60–40 in his favour. Allen agreed to this arrangement, which Gates later attempted to amend to 64–36. In 1983, Gates tried to buy Allen out at $5 per share; however, Allen refused and left the company with his shares intact.
This proved critical to Allen becoming a billionaire after Microsoft went public. Allen’s share in the company later paid off and made him a multimillionaire.
Other Businesses And Commitments
Allen was also;
- Chairman and Founder Vulcan Inc.
- Owner Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers (NBA)
- Part-owner Seattle Sounders
- Founder Allen Institute for Brain Science
- Founder Allen Institute for Cell Science
- Founder Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence
- Co-founder Mojave Aerospace Ventures amongst others.
Other Big personalities Have Joined To Send Their Tributes To Paul Allen
Very sad to hear of Paul Allen’s passing. His passion for invention and pushing forward inspired so many. He was relentless to the end. My heart goes out to Paul’s family and friends.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 15, 2018
Sad to hear of the passing of Paul Allen, who was a strong advocate for environmental protection. He and the team at Vulcan played a pivotal role in developing the Shark Conservation Fund alongside LDF. His legacy lives on via his incredible work as a philanthropist and investor.
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) October 16, 2018
We lost a great technology pioneer today – thank you Paul Allen for your immense contributions to the world through your work and your philanthropy. Thoughts are with his family and the entire Microsoft community.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) October 15, 2018
