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PAUL ALLEN
Born: January 21, 1953 63yrs old
Seattle, Washington
Education: Lakeside HS Seattle
2 years Washington State University
Net Worth: 17.1 billion
Marital Status: Single
Known as the “Idea Man”
A well-known recluse, he keeps his personal life very private.
FOUNDER/CO-FOUNDER: Microsoft Corporation, Vulcan Inc, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The International SeaKeepers Society, Interval Research Corporation
AWARDS:
1999 - Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award
2008 – Vanguard Award
2008 - Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award for visionary achievements
2011 - Seattle Sports Commission Sports Citizen of the Year
Paul Allen is a Washingtonian as he grew up and still lives in Seattle. Paul Allen was born on 21 January 1953 in Seattle, Washington, to Kenneth Samuel Allen and Edna Faye Allen. His parents both worked as librarians as he grew up. Paul attended local schools and graduated from Lakeside High School. While attending high school he became friends with a fellow student and computer enthusiast by the name of Bill Gates, Paul was 14 and Gates was 12. They left high school and stayed in touch as Paul Allen went to Washington State University after scoring 1600 on his SAT’s and Bill Gates went to Harvard.
Allen lives on Lake Washington's Mercer Island, near Seattle.
I find some very interesting facts from Paul Allen’s early life. First he grew up in Seattle and has stayed in the area his whole live. In today’s world where everyone is always on the move it is great to find someone who still is dedicated to the area he grew up. It also shows some determination in working and helping out the community he knows and loves.
Another area is growing up in high school and making friends which will have a major effect on his future life. Who would have thought Paul and Bill would form a relationship which brought about Microsoft and changed the world? In looking at this one thing stands out and that is our high school years have an impact on our future life. We all remember lots of things we did and made plans during high school which came true in our lives. I know it did for me as I am still in the career I wanted at that time.
The other is friendships we make do have a lasting effect on life. I can just imagine how their friendship started because of a common interest in computers and coding. They must have spent lots of time together starting to dream about what they could do in the future. We can all think back to these years bringing up our ambitions, values, and general desire of what we want in life. In looking at Paul staying in contact with Bill and then talking him into dropping out of college, especially Harvard, was because of some bond or desire they had together.
The last thing about Paul’s early life is his parents. They were together so I would have to think they had a good family life. Also they were both employed, librarian’s, so not an extremely poor family so possibly middle class. I would think they were both very smart and in turn presented to Paul the desire for education and knowledge. They were caring as Paul’s mother would take him and his sister to museums, galleries and concerts. She also held science club meetings for him in their home. Family is the best trait here and I would say from looking on the outside he had a supporting family growing up.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates are now together, after dropping out of college, and working on that dream they desired. In June 1975 they founded Microsoft with the intention of designing software for the new wave of personal computers from a garage in New Mexico. Now here is the time it would be interesting to be an observer (sorry I did not see the movie nor have I read any books on them). Not knowing what the future would bring these two worked hard for something they believed in. We know the outcome was definitely a huge effect on the world. So the company and the world empire is started which makes the action for the rest of his life.
In 1982 Paul was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and underwent several months of treatment. A year later Paul decided to resign from Microsoft due to this health condition. Allen’s share in the company he co-founded made him a billionaire at just over 30 years of age.
Now here is another major milestone in Paul Allen’s life which most people cannot comprehend. How can he leave Microsoft at this time? Well, being a cancer survivor also I can understand his feeling when diagnosed and then going into treatment. It has a very profound effect on your mental being and your physical body being attacked to the point of almost death. I would say his decision was not only best for his life but also for the company. It shows again his values and gives us a look at how he handles major impacts to his life.
After some time and on the road to recovery Allen began to concentrate on other projects, hoping to find the next big idea lurking somewhere just out of sight. In 1986, he set up a company called Vulcan Ventures in order to research possible investments; to that end, he founded a Silicon Valley think tank in 1992 called Interval Research. Through Interval Research and Vulcan Ventures, Allen began to put his long-term dream of a wired world society—in which virtually everyone is online—into practice.
He continued in diverse investments: America Online, SureFind (an online classified ad service), Teluscan (an online financial service), Starwave (an online content provider), hardware, software, and wireless communications. From 1994 to 1998, Allen built an infrastructure of well over 30 different companies in pursuit of his "wired world" strategy.
Other personal and philanthropic interests include sports (he owns the NBA's Portland Trailblazers and the NFL's Seattle Seahawks) and music. On June 23, 2000, his Experience Music Project, a $250 million interactive rock 'n' roll museum designed by the architect Frank O. Gehry opened. Allen also established philanthropic foundations for the causes of medical research, visual and performing arts, community service, and forest preservation.
From all of this work done after the cancer scare it shows Paul Allen is a strong person. He had a major depression in life and decided to work back up from it to gain in areas I am sure he had some goals or ambitions in early life. From all these interests I see one major theme and it is to help others and his community. A good example is buying sports teams so they do not leave the area. Of course he has given support to his schools, medicine, and the computer industry which is his love.
Allen also likes to invest in yachts, which at one time he had the largest in the world.
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