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Paul Gardener Allen (born January 21, 1953) is an entrepreneur who established himself by co-founding Microsoft Corporation with Bill Gates. He regularly appears on lists of the richest people in the world; as of 2006 he is ranked by Forbes magazine as the sixth richest, worth an estimated $22 billion, of which $5 billion is in Microsoft stock. He is the Chairman of Charter Communications and is a shareholder in Dreamworks Animation. He was recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Allen also owns two professional sports teams: The Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.

He currently resides on Mercer Island, WA.

Early years

Paul Gardner Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, to Kenneth S. Allen, an associate director of the University of Washington libraries, and Faye G. Allen. Allen attended Lakeside School, a prestigious private school in Seattle, and befriended Bill Gates, two years his junior but shared a common enthusiasm for computers. Together they monopolized the use of Lakeside School's single minicomputer. In need of more computing power, Allen and Gates snuck into the University of Washington computer labs. They were caught but struck an agreement with lab administrators by providing free computer help to students. After graduation, Allen attended Washington State University, though he dropped out after two years to pursue his dream of writing software commercially for the new "personal computers". He later convinced Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard College to found Microsoft.

Microsoft

:''For more information, see History of Microsoft

With Bill Gates, he co-founded Microsoft (initially "Micro-Soft") in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975, and began selling a BASIC interpreter. In 1980, Allen spearheaded a deal for Microsoft to buy an operating system called QDOS for $59,000. Microsoft won a contract to supply it for use as the operating system of IBM's new PC. This became a foundation of Microsoft's remarkable growth.

Allen resigned from Microsoft in 1983 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease which was successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant.

In November 2000, Allen resigned from his position on the Microsoft board but was asked to consult as a senior strategy advisor to Microsoft executives.

Philanthropy

Much of Paul Allen's philanthropy has been dedicated to health and human services and toward the advancement of science and technology. The was established in 1986 to administer much of the giving. Through the Foundation, Allen awards nearly $30 million in grants annually. Approximately 75 percent of the Foundation's money goes to non-profit organizations in Seattle and the state of Washington. The remaining 25 percent is distributed to Portland, Oregon and other cities within the Pacific Northwest. Allen also contributes through other charitable projects known as venture philanthropy. The most famous of those projects are the Experience Music Project, the , and SETI. Paul Allen's total philanthropy as of 2005 is estimated to be over US$815 million.

The University of Washington has been a major recipient of Paul Allen's giving. In the late 1980's, Allen donated US$18 million to build a new library named after his father, Kenneth S. Allen. In 2003 US$5 million was donated to establish the Faye G. Allen (his mother) Center for Visual Arts. Paul Allen also was the top private contributor (US$14 million) and namesake of the (completed in 2004). Throughout the years, Allen has contributed millions of US dollars to the University of Washington Medical School, most recently US$3.2 million for prostatitis research.

Seattle Real estate investment and development efforts

Allen is a key developer and investor in the controversial development of the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle as a biotechnology hub. This development has been criticized by some as a city-supported real estate investment for Vulcan Inc.. Concerns over the loss of low-income housing are prominent. Allen has made investments estimated at US$200 million as of 2005, and has promoted for city funding of a "South Lake Union Trolley" from Seattle's Westlake Center to the south end of Lake Union which some suggest would be of questionable contribution to the overall mass transit plan of the city.

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