Paul Allen was a successful American businessman, investor, musician, owner of a sports team, and philanthropist who had a net worth of $20 billion at the time of his death on October 15, 2018.

Paul Allen co-founded the software giant Microsoft, which is how he made the majority of his personal wealth. Allen and Bill Gates, a friend from their youth, created the software corporation together.

The majority of professional sports club owners are fairly affluent, but Paul Allen stands out as the richest of them all. The 34 club owners who made the most recent Forbes’ 400 Richest Americans list are led by Allen, who has a net worth of $15.2 billion.

The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, and the MLS’s Seattle Sounders are all owned by the co-founder of Microsoft. However, none of the three teams is as hot as the Seahawks, who are the overwhelming favourite to win the Super Bowl and their raucous supporters.

Paul Allen Bio/Wiki

Early Life

Kenneth and Edna Allen welcomed Paul Gardner Allen into the world on January 21, 1953, in Seattle, Washington. In 1959, Jody, his sister, was born. Bill Gates and he became friends while he was a student at Seattle’s Lakeside School, a private high school. They both had a passion for computers. Despite having a two-year age difference, they quickly bonded as friends and learned how to program and hack thanks to access they had to a mainframe system that belonged to their school. 

In a notorious instance, the school purchased what it thought would be a year’s worth of mainframe time, only to discover that Allen and Gates had used that time up in just three weeks. Shortly after, Allen started figuring out how to enter computer laboratories covertly and log in as an administrator. To acquire more programming time, Allen even pretended to be a graduate student at the University of Washington. He was eventually apprehended and expelled from the lab.

Paul Allen Personal Life

Allen was heavily interested in charity and donated more than $2 billion to organizations that support health and human services as well as the advancement of science and technology. The debut blues-rock album Everywhere At Once by Allen and The Underthinkers was published in 2013. With friends like Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Allen plays some wicked electric guitar.

The assets of Allen are held under a living trust that he created in 1993. His sister Jody Allen and her children are his beneficiaries because he never married or had any children. Due to the rarity and high value of Allen’s real estate assets, Jody and her children are likely to keep them.

Paul Allen Controversies

Selling software was essentially unheard of when Allen and Gates founded the business. Hardware sales were how the era’s titans, like IBM and DEC, made their money. It was standard practice to share software on floppy disks, punch cards, or tape without paying for it. The first of many conflicts the business would encounter began when Gates referred to anyone who copied Microsoft software without paying as “thieves” in an open letter published in 1976. But after Microsoft, a lot of other companies quickly followed suit, and an industry was created.

Despite the early years of their business relationship being fruitful, it didn’t last. In Idea Man, Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were charged with plotting to reduce Allen’s ownership stake in the business. Three years before Microsoft went public, in 1983, a deteriorating relationship and a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s cancer prompted Allen to part ways with the company.

Paul Allen Education

Allen attended the Lakeside Institution in Seattle, a private school, where he first met Bill Gates and developed a close friendship with him. Gates was 12 years old and Allen was 14 at the time; both were avid computer users. Both of the buddies began honing their programming talents on various time-sharing computers in Lakeside’s Teletype terminal.

Allen received admittance to Washington State University after achieving an SAT score of 1600, but he decided to leave school after just two years to work as a programmer for Honeywell in Boston. Additionally, he persuaded Bill Gates, a close friend, and fellow computer enthusiast, to leave Harvard University in order to collaborate on a ground-breaking project.

Professional Career

In 1975, Allen and Gates opened a business in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their big break occurred when they came across a Popular Electronics Magazine article about the Altair 8000. The computer was perfect for home computing because it was portable and affordable.

The two men approached the Altair 8000’s maker and offered to create a programming language for it. The creation of that language, known as BASIC, made them aware of the potential benefits of developing a programming language. Oh, and they created it for a computer that they had never ever seen before, let alone owned. Amazingly, it was successful, and their language was effective.

Allen used the money from his Microsoft shares to fund Vulcan Capital, the private venture company he and his sister Jody Allen established in 1986. Both the Maaco and Meineke auto maintenance brands are currently owned by Vulcan. It was a founding investor in the movie company Dreamworks SKG and has developed over 7 million square feet of real estate.

Allen founded Vulcan Aerospace, which provided funding for the SpaceShipOne project, and was awarded the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004. Richard Branson purchased the technology underlying SpaceShipOne from Allen. The largest aeroplane in the world was being constructed by Allen’s Vulcan Aerospace at the time of his passing. He intended to utilize this aircraft as a launch pad for orbital rockets.

The Portland Trailblazers, Seattle Sounders FC, and Seattle Seahawks were three of Allen’s professional sports franchises. When former owner and real estate developer Ken Behring threatened to relocate the Seahawks to Southern California, he bought the team in 1997 for $194 million.

When Allen owned the Seahawks, he built a new stadium, hired Pete Carroll, a former USC coach, won a Super Bowl, and generally tried to appease a group of supporters regarded as among the NFL’s most fervent home crowds. He was successful there. Paul Allen headed Charter Communications at the time of his passing in 2018. Over 40 other media, technology, and entertainment companies were included in Allen’s multi-billion dollar investment portfolio.

Real Estate

Paul Allen was really interested in real estate and bought multiple houses all around the USA. 

In 2000, Allen bought the former Georgia O’Keefe estate, Sol y Sombra in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Three miles outside of Santa Fe is where the 20-acre property is situated. The property included a 9,685 square foot, five-bedroom main house built in the 1930s as well as a 5,000 square foot lodge, a guest house, and a carriage house when Allen bought it. When Allen bought it, it had a $12.2 million price tag on the MLS.

In 2013, Allen acquired the 2,066-acre Trees Ranch in southern Utah. Public lands encircle The Trees Ranch on three sides. The Canaan Mountain Wilderness and the Bureau of Land Management are to the south, while Zion National Park is to the north and east. A little less than the ranch’s $25 million asking price was paid by Allen.

In 2013, Allen and his sister bought a home in Atherton, Silicon Valley. On a 1.97-acre property, they spent $27 million for a 22,005 square foot, six-bedroom, six-bathroom home. The property includes a spa, a home theatre, seven fireplaces, a five-car garage, a guesthouse with two bedrooms, a pool, and a residence for the caretaker.

In 2011, Allen paid $25 million for the penthouse at 4 East 66th Street, a 1920 limestone structure on Fifth Avenue and 66th Street. It was above the full-floor flat on the eleventh floor that he had paid $13.5 million for in 1996.

In 1993, Allen purchased two properties close to the small community of Tetonia, which is located 80 miles from Jackson, Wyoming, on the Idaho side of the Tetons. One of the properties was a 2,400-acre plot of land near Grand Teton National Park’s border and the Targhee National Forest.

Allen invested $7.25 million in the building. After almost 15 years, Allen spent $3 million to purchase a 1,200-acre estate. The Teton Ridge Ranch, a 10,000-square-foot lodge made of pine, was part of the property. The Teton Ridge Ranch, whose accommodations cost $690 per night, was regarded as one of the top luxury resorts in the world when it closed in 2007.

For $11 million, Allen paid for a 10.3-acre estate on Kailua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1997. The Four Seasons Hualalai Resort is close to the property. A concert pool, a garage, and three additional structures, including a 9,080 square foot home with five bedrooms and five bathrooms and a 2.968 square foot home with six bedrooms and five baths, were all added in 2011. There is also a little harbour on the property.

In the 1990s, Allen bought an 18-bedroom estate in Cap Ferrat, in the south of France. During the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Allen hosted a pirate-themed party at the Villa Maryland house.

For $9 million, Allen acquired the 387-acre Sperry Peninsula on Lopez Island in Washington in 1996. Since 1945, it had been the location of a camp for kids. In addition to his 13,000 square foot, five-bedroom home, Allen also constructed a 5,400 square foot, nine-bedroom bunkhouse, a 3,150 square foot beach house, and a second, 2,160 square foot home with two bedrooms, a two-bedroom, 1,24 square foot caretaker’s cottage, and a swimming pool.

On Mercer Island, the affluent Seattle neighbourhood by the shores of Lake Washington, Allen owned eight homes spread across 10.8 acres of land on thirteen lots. There is only one bridge connecting Mercer Island’s 24,000 population to the mainland.

Paul Allen Net Worth

Paul Allen was well-known for his ownership of Microsoft, however, the precise percentage hasn’t been disclosed since 2000 because it dropped below 5%. He made much of his money in the real estate, private equity, and energy industries.

In California, New York, Washington, Oregon, and other states, Allen held more than 1 million square feet of commercial, industrial, and retail space. He worked with Ticketmaster, DreamWorks, Plains All America, and Uber. Allen reportedly lost $8 billion by attempting an early internet expansion.

Paul Allen Partners/Affairs

Paul Allen never got married and never had kids. The business tycoon had two girlfriends in his life, although they were just romantically involved. He apparently dated Jerry Hall briefly in 1999 after dating tennis legend Monica Seles for several years before she left in 1998.

He has also been linked to Leigh Colier, the vice president of programming and development at CBS Television Distribution and managing director of television, with whom he has been dating since 2011. Allen’s sexuality has been questioned by some, who believed he was gay or at the very least bisexual but lacked the confidence to come out. However, the statements were unsupported by any credible data.

Paul Allen Height, Weight & Age

Allen stood around 5 feet and 10 inches and weighed around 78 kgs. Allen had salt and pepper hair and a dashing pair of blue eyes. Paul Allen died of Septic Shock, a Known Complication of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma on October 15th, 2018. He passed away at the age of 65 at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

FAQs

How much was his net worth of Paul Allen at the time of death?
$20.3 Billion

Who was Paul Allen’s wife?
Unmarried

What was Paul Allen’s age at the time of his death?
65 years

What was the name of the Paul Allen firm?
Microsoft

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