Biography and Career of Paul Allen – American Business Magnate

Paul Allen is a U.S business mogul, investor, researcher and Philanthropist. He is the co-founder of the biggest software company in the world -Microsoft. Aside from Microsoft, Allen has other business interest areas which include technology, real estate, Media and Sports. Aside from co-founding Microsoft alongside his close friend Bill Gate, Allen also founded Vulcan Capital Inc and the owner of NFL's Seattle Seahawks, NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and part-owner of Seattle Sounders FC, which in 2009 became a member of the Major League Soccer.

The business mogul is also interested in research, thus, he founded some research institutes like the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Stratolaunch Systems, and Institute for Cell Science. Allen was born on the in Seattle, Washington on the 21st day of January 1953 to Edna Faye and Kenneth Sam Allen. His full name is Paul Gardner Allen. He attended a private school in Seattle, Lakeside School, where he met his close pal and future business partner, Bill Gate.

The two were bound by their love and passion for computers. After High school, Allen headed to Washington State University to study Computer Science and Bill to Harvard. After two years Paul Allen dropped out of the university and convinced Bill to also drop out so they both pursue their passion for computers and software.

Inspired by an article published on “Popular Electronics” which featured the new Altair microcomputer kit manufactured by MITS computer, the two friends relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the headquarters of MITS was located. After working for some time and saving up $16,000, they established the biggest software in the world in 1975. Their journey to success hasn't been a smooth ride all the way but vision, persistence and hard work has kept them going and today that little company that was started with just $16,000 has a revenue of 89.95 billion as at 2017 and the two friends have found their names on the list of the world's richest men.

Asides from Microsoft, Paul Allen has a chain of other businesses and investments. He is the founder of Vulcan Capital Inc - a private asset management company, which he established in 1986, with the mission of finding solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges. In 2013, he opened a new office in Palo Alto, California with the aim of investing in young and emerging technology and internet companies. His most recent investment ventures include Decide.com, Audience Inc and Redfin, His real estate company is into development and portfolio management services and has developed over 6 million square feet of office retail, biotechnology and residential space. In 2012, it sold an office space worth $1.16billion to Amazon.

Paul Allen is the owner of the National Football League franchise, Seattle Seahawks; which he purchased in 1996, Ken Behring. He also owns NBA team Portland Blazers which he bought for $70 million in 1988 from real estate developer Larry Weinberg, and he partly owns Seattle Sounders FC of the Major League Soccer. The business magnate is also into media, together with his sister, Jody Allen, he established Vulcan Productions - a TV and film production company headquartered in Seattle. They both serve as the company's executive producers. His love and passion for aviation also lead him to establish Vulcan Aerospace, under which he funded the Space Ship One project, which is the first private aircraft to put a civilian in suborbital space. He is still pursuing other aerospace interests under his Stratolaunch Systems.

Allen is a renowned philanthropist who has invested over $2 billion of his earning for the advancement of wildlife conservation, education, Arts, community services, science and technology. And all of these he has done under several foundations like the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Stratolaunch Systems, and Institute for Cell Science. In 2014, he gave about $100 million toward the fight to end the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. In 2018, Paul Allen was named the 43rd-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $25 billion. His earnings are not just as a result of his shares in the software company but also from his other chains of businesses.