17 Oct 2018

Paul Allen

Co-founder of Microsoft recently passed away on 15th October. He founded Microsoft along with Bill gates in 1975, which went on to become one of the largest software companies in the world.

Co-founder of Microsoft recently passed away on 15th October. He founded Microsoft along with Bill gates in 1975, which went on to become one of the largest software companies in the world.

Allen had known Bill Gates since school where they shared common interests in computer programming. It was Paul Allen who had advised Bill to drop out of college for starting Microsoft. In 1975, Allen and Gates together developed a BASIC interpreter. Paul Allen was later instrumental in securing a contract with IBM to supply DOS for its PC line. This contract was a major game changer in the evolution of Microsoft. Allen is also credited for the original name ‘Micro-soft’. He later left Microsoft on November 9,2000.

His other ventures included:

  1. Vulcan Capital is an investment arm of Allen’s Seattle-based Vulcan Inc., which has managed his personal fortune. In 2013, Allen opened a new Vulcan Capital office to focus on making new investments in emerging technology and internet companies.

  2. Patents: Allen held 43 patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

  3. Apps: Allen backed A.R.O., the startup behind the mobile app Saga; SportStream, a social app for sports fans; and a content-management app called Fayve. Interval Research Corporation: In 1992, Allen and David Liddle co-founded Interval Research Corporation, a Silicon Valley-based laboratory and new business incubator that was dissolved in 2000 after generating over 300 patents, four of which were the subject of Allen’s August 2010 patent infringement lawsuit against AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo!, and YouTube

  4. Allen confirmed that he was the sole investor behind aerospace engineer and entrepreneur Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne suborbital commercial spacecraft on October 4, 2004.

  5. Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate division offers development and portfolio management services.

  6. Allen and his sister Jody Allen together were the owners and executive producers of Vulcan Productions, a television and film production company headquartered in Seattle within the entertainment division of Vulcan Inc.

Paul Allen was also an acclaimed philanthropist. He gave more than $2 billion towards the advancement of science, technology, education, wildlife conservation, the arts, and community services in his lifetime.

Paul Allen passed away on October 15,2018. He was 65 years old.

“When I think about Paul, I remember a passionate man who held his family and friends dear. I also remember a brilliant technologist and philanthropist who wanted to accomplish great things, and did. Paul deserved more time in life. He would have made the most of it. I will miss him tremendously.”-Bill Gates, from his personal blog gatesnotes.