Microsoft co-founder Allen dies at age 65
Paul G. Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Bill Gates before becoming a billionaire philanthropist, technology investor and owner of several professional sports teams, has died. He was 65.
He died on Monday in Seattle, according to his company Vulcan Inc. Earlier this month Allen announced that the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that he was treated for in 2009 had returned.
Gates said he was heartbroken about the loss of one of his “oldest and dearest friends.”
“Personal computing would not have existed without him,” he said in a statement, adding that Allen’s “second act” as a philanthropist was “focused on improving people’s lives and strengthening communities.”
Allen and Gates met while attending a private school in north Seattle. The two friends would later drop out of college to pursue the future they envisioned: A world with a computer in every home.
Gates so strongly believed in their dream that he left Harvard University in his junior year to devote himself full-time to his and Allen’s startup, which Allen dubbed Micro-Soft, short for microprocessors and software. Allen spent two years at Washington State University before dropping out as well.
They founded the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Allen, however, departed the company just eight years after its founding in 1975. He served as Microsoft’s executive vice president of research and new product development until 1983, when he resigned after being diagnosed with cancer.
Allen was on the list of America’s wealthiest people who pledged to give away the bulk of their fortunes to charity. He was also an avid sports fan and used some of his fortune to buy several professional teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks.
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