‘A giant in Washington history’: Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of Seahawks, dead at 65

[nuckin_futz]

‘A giant in Washington history’: Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of Seahawks, dead at 65

SEATTLE – Paul Allen, one of the most influential businessmen and philanthropists in Seattle history, died on Monday at the age of 65.

Allen was the co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates, as well as the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers, part-owner of the Seattle Sounders and founder of the Museum of Pop Culture.

 

Allen died of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, his company Vulcan Inc. said in a press release. Allen announced two weeks ago that he was battling the disease for the second time.

 

Pete Carroll with Hawks owner Paul Allen

 

"Paul Allen stands as a giant in Washington history for the genius vision that was so important to creating Microsoft with Bill Gates," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. "That he went on to do so much more for our state, nation and the world puts him in rarefied company."

 

Allen was born Jan. 21, 1953 in Seattle and met Gates while attending Lakeside School. He later dropped out of Washington State University before going on to co-found Microsoft with Gates.

 

“My brother was a remarkable individual on every level," Allen's sister, Jody Allen, said in a statement. "While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much-loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend. Paul’s family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his generosity and deep concern. For all the demands on his schedule, there was always time for family and friends. At this time of loss and grief for us – and so many others – we are profoundly grateful for the care and concern he demonstrated every day.”

 

Allen bought the Portland Trial Blazers in 1988, and eventually funded their arena, which is now known as the Moda Center, which he owns. He bought the Seahawks from Ken Behring in 1996 after Behring's failed attempt to move the team to the Los Angeles area. The Seahawks went to three Super Bowls and won one of them during Allen's ownership.

 

Vulcan Inc. said there was no information yet on a funeral or memorial service.

 

Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf released a statement Monday afternoon:

 

“All of us who had the honor of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today. He possessed a remarkable intellect and a passion to solve some of the world’s most difficult problems, with the conviction that creative thinking and new approaches could make profound and lasting impact.

 

"Millions of people were touched by his generosity, his persistence in pursuit of a better world, and his drive to accomplish as much as he could with the time and resources at his disposal.

 

"Paul’s life was diverse and lived with gusto. It reflected his myriad interests in technology, music and the arts, biosciences and artificial intelligence, conservation and in the power of shared experience – in a stadium or a neighborhood – to transform individual lives and whole communities.

 

"Paul loved Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. The impact of Paul’s efforts can be seen here at every turn. But the true impact of his vision and generosity is evident around the globe.

 

"Paul thoughtfully addressed how the many institutions he founded and supported would continue after he was no longer able to lead them. This isn’t the time to deal in those specifics as we focus on Paul’s family. We will continue to work on furthering Paul’s mission and the projects he entrusted to us. There are no changes imminent for Vulcan, the teams, the research institutes or museums.

 

"Today we mourn our boss, mentor and friend whose 65 years were too short – and acknowledge the honor it has been to work alongside someone whose life transformed the world.”

 

https://q13fox.com/2018/10/15/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-and-owner-of-seahawks-dead-at-65/

 

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Guy was a legend in business, philanthropy and sports ownership in the Pacific NorthWest

 

RIP

[Shift-4]

So sad

 

&^@# Cancer!

[Apple Juice]

I hope Bill Gates has an interest in sports and buys the Seahawks from the Allen family in his memory.

[RUPERTKBD]

Didn't even know he had cancer...sad news....

[Nuxfanabroad]

Wasn't he a sorta' cool ol' hippy rocker-fan too? Dated Mic Jagger's ex(Jerry Hall). Also believe he LOVED Hendrix, & had Jimi's museum built in Seattle? Goin by memory, but this was the same bloke, wasn't it? Heard he had a private yacht with a recording studio built in!

 

End of the day, guess his life was quite a ride.

[Warhippy]

This was a guy that epitomized what generosity was.  If it needed doing and he could help he did.  From music to education to arts and sports.

 

When people speak of the 1% they need leave his name out of it because he was the antithesis of uppity wealth.

[ReggieBush]

34 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Wasn't he a sorta' cool ol' hippy rocker-fan too? Dated Mic Jagger's ex(Jerry Hall). Also believe he LOVED Hendrix, & had Jimi's museum built in Seattle? Goin by memory, but this was the same bloke, wasn't it? Heard he had a private yacht with a recording studio built in!

 

End of the day, guess his life was quite a ride.

Yup.

 

 

Probably one of the very few that comes up on a boatload of money and doesn't change for the worst.

[Tre Mac]

Rip to a fellow guitarist.  Sadly my mom passed away from the same type of cancer  15 years ago.

[sonoman]

1 hour ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Wasn't he a sorta' cool ol' hippy rocker-fan too? Dated Mic Jagger's ex(Jerry Hall). Also believe he LOVED Hendrix, & had Jimi's museum built in Seattle? Goin by memory, but this was the same bloke, wasn't it? Heard he had a private yacht with a recording studio built in!

 

End of the day, guess his life was quite a ride.

Learned to play guitar after listening to Hendrix at 14.  Apparently became a pretty good player. Reported that he loaned the family money for legal battles to reclaim rights to his music. 

RIP to a technological Icon.  

[Gurn]

The world lost a good man.

[Tortorella's Rant]

Paul Allen had the best business cards. The tasteful thickness, the watermark.. 

[Nuxfanabroad]

40 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Paul Allen had the best business cards. The tasteful thickness, the watermark.. 

I also enjoyed his brand of java at our epic biz-meetings. He had connections in Seattle, & all that...

[EP Phone Home]

Sad day losing such a influential pioneer to the Pacific Northwest. I am happy he got to witness his Seahawks win a Super Bowl but still shocking and sad news. I love visiting the museum of pop culture when I go down to Seattle. A good man was lost today on the Cascadia coast. Rest In Peace Paul

[*Buzzsaw*]

Also will add to the other accolades that he had, (and it is still maintained) a great collection of WWII aircraft/vehicles/etc. in his Flying Heritage Museum.

 

Great tribute to the generation who sacrificed so much in WWII.

 

https://flyingheritage.org/Explore/The-Collection.aspx

 

He also paid to locate the sunken HMS Hood... (sunk by the Bismarck) with permission from the Royal Navy, recovered the Hood's bell and donated it to the Royal Navy museum.

 

Also donated $2 billion to environmental/social, etc. causes.

[nuckin_futz]

Bill Gates pays tribute to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen: ‘Personal computing would not have existed without him’

In 2013 at the Living Computers Museum, Bill Gates and Paul Allen recreated a famous photo from 1981 surrounded by PCs. (Photos: Microsoft and Vulcan)

 

Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft together in 1975, cementing the pair as legends in the world of technology.

Allen passed away Monday, and not long after Gates reflected on his time with his partner and friend in a statement:

 

I am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Paul Allen. From our early days together at Lakeside School, through our partnership in the creation of Microsoft, to some of our joint philanthropic projects over the years, Paul was a true partner and dear friend. Personal computing would not have existed without him.

But Paul wasn’t content with starting one company. He channeled his intellect and compassion into a second act focused on improving people’s lives and strengthening communities in Seattle and around the world. He was fond of saying, “If it has the potential to do good, then we should do it.” That’s the kind of person he was.

Paul loved life and those around him, and we all cherished him in return. He deserved much more time, but his contributions to the world of technology and philanthropy will live on for generations to come. I will miss him tremendously.

Allen and Gates, both computer enthusiasts, met when they were students at Lakeside School in Seattle at ages 14 and 12. Allen, whose father was associate director of libraries at the University of Washington,  spent a good amount of time with Gates and other friends in UW’s Computer Science Laboratory. So much so, that he received a letter in 1971 when he was a high school senior, informing him that he would no longer have access to the UW’s graduate computer lab.

 

Paul Allen, left, and Bill Gates at Lakeside School in 1970. (Bruce Burgess Photo Archive)

 

It was at UW where Allen and Gates launched their first venture, a startup that developed a computer system to count traffic called Traf-O-Data.

Allen reflected on the venture last year during an event to christen the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

 

Objectively speaking, Traf-O-Data was a failure as a company. Right as our business started to pick up, states began to provide their own traffic-counting services to local governments for free. As quickly as it started, our business model evaporated.

But while Traf-O-Data was technically a business failure, the understanding of microprocessors we absorbed was crucial to our future success. And the emulator I wrote to program it gave us a huge head start over anyone else writing code at the time.

If it hadn’t been for our Traf-O-Data venture, and if it hadn’t been for all that time spent on UW computers, you could argue that Microsoft might not have happened.

 

Together, they founded Microsoft in 1975. The original idea behind the company, whose name Allen reportedly derived from a portmanteau of microcomputer and software, was to build an implementation of a programming language for a new microcomputer.

 

Like any long-term friendship, Allen and Gates had their rocky moments. Allen’s 2011 memoir “Idea Man,” reportedly created a rift among the two titans, as the book brought to light previously unknown details about their relationships included tense negotiations over Microsoft equity and Allen’s departure from the company when he was originally diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-pays-tribute-microsoft-234124508.html

 

 

[DrJockitch]

It is so rare to see financial giants that try to use their resources for something other than glorification of self and building more wealth.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates both seem to have taken on that responsibility and it is so encouraging and important to highlight.

This is such a rare quality as in the history of the world.  This kind of wealth has mostly been dependent on a pathological need for money and being morally ambiguous enough to be willing to crush anyone in the way of building your wealth.  This why so many heads of fortune 500 countries and presidents of the US are thought of as sociopaths.

[EP Phone Home]

2 hours ago, DrJockitch said:

It is so rare to see financial giants that try to use their resources for something other than glorification of self and building more wealth.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates both seem to have taken on that responsibility and it is so encouraging and important to highlight.

This is such a rare quality as in the history of the world.  This kind of wealth has mostly been dependent on a pathological need for money and being morally ambiguous enough to be willing to crush anyone in the way of building your wealth.  This why so many heads of fortune 500 countries and presidents of the US are thought of as sociopaths.

Absolutely agree 100%. Just imagine if all the wealthy in the world would have the same perspective and vision that Paul had. The world would be in much better shape then it is now. 

[PhillipBlunt]

Rest in peace, Paul. Say hi to Jimi for me.