Paul Gardner Allen (born January 21, 1953) is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist, best known as the co-founder, with Bill Gates, of Microsoft Corporation. As of March 2013, he was estimated to be the 53rd-richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of $15 billion.[1]
He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., which manages his various business and philanthropic efforts. Allen also has a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio including technology companies, real estate holdings, and stakes in other technology, media, and content companies. Allen also owns two professional sports teams, the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL),[2] and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[3] He is also part-owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, which joined Major League Soccer(MLS) in 2009.[4]
He is also the founder of the Allen Institute for Brain Science,[5] the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence,[6] and Stratolaunch Systems.[7]
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[show]Early life and career[edit]
Paul Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, to parents Kenneth Samuel Allen, an associate director of the University of Washington libraries, and Edna Faye (née Gardner) Allen, on January 21, 1953.[8] Allen attended Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle, and befriended Bill Gates, who was almost three years younger and shared a common enthusiasm for computers.[9]They used Lakeside's Teletype terminal to develop their programming skills on several time-sharing computer systems.[9] After earning a perfect score of 1600 on the SAT (pre-1995 scale), Allen went to Washington State University but dropped out after two years in order to work as a programmer for Honeywell in Boston, placing him near his old friend again.[9] Allen later convinced Gates to drop out of Harvard University in order to create Microsoft.
Microsoft[edit]
Main article: History of Microsoft
Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975, and began marketing a BASIC programming language interpreter.[9] Allen came up with the original name of "Micro-Soft," as recounted in a 1995 Fortune magazine article.[10] In 1980, after promising to deliver IBM a Disk Operating System (DOS) they had not yet developed for the Intel 8088-basedIBM PC, Allen spearheaded a deal for Microsoft to purchase a Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS) written by Tim Paterson who, at the time, was employed at Seattle Computer Products. As a result of this transaction, Microsoft was able to secure a contract to supply the DOS that would eventually run on IBM's PC line. This contract with IBM was the watershed in Microsoft history that led to Allen and Gates' wealth.[9]
Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1982. His cancer was successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy. However, he did not return to Microsoft and began distancing himself from the company.[9] Allen officially resigned from his position on the Microsoft Board of Directors in November 2000 but was asked to consult as a senior strategy advisor to the company's executives[11] and still owns a reported 138 million shares.[12]
Recognition[edit]
Paul Allen has received various awards recognizing many different areas including sports, philanthropy, and the arts:
- On March 9, 2005, Paul Allen, Burt Rutan, and the SpaceShipOne team were awarded the 2005 National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement.[13]
- In 2007 and 2008, Allen was listed among the Time 100 Most Influential People in The World.[14]
- In 2008, Allen received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Watson School of Biological Sciences.[15]
- He received the Vanguard Award from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association on May 20, 2008.[16]
- On October 30, 2008, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors honored Allen for his “unwavering commitment to nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest and lifetime giving approaching US$1 billion.”[17]
- In 2009, Allen's philanthropy as the long-time owner of the Trail Blazers was recognized with an Oregon Sports Award[18]
- Allen has received awards and honorary degrees from several universities. In May 1999, Washington State University bestowed its highest honor, the Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, upon him. He received a Docteur honoris causa from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne on March 31, 2007.[19]
- On October 26, 2010, Paul Allen was awarded the W.J.S. Krief Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of neuroscience by the Cajal Club.[20]
- On January 26, 2011 at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Paul Allen was named Seattle Sports Commission Sports Citizen of the Year, an award that has been renamed the Paul Allen Award.[21]
- In 2011, Paul Allen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[22]
- On October 15, 2012, Allen received the Eli and Edythe Broad Award for Philanthropy in the Arts at the National Arts Awards.[23]
Philanthropy[edit]
Paul Allen has given more than $1.5 billion towards the advancement of science, technology, education, wildlife conservation, the arts and community services in his lifetime.[24] In 2010, Allen became a signatory of The Giving Pledge, promising to give at least half of his fortune to philanthropic causes.[25] A report in February 2012 named Allen as the most charitable living American in 2011; Allen's direct giving in 2011 totaled $372.6 million.[26]
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