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Paul Allen

By Tom Kirvan

One of the pioneers of the personal computer revolution, Paul Allen gained fame as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, teaming with his childhood friend Bill Gates to launch the technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Wash.

Born January 21, 1953 in Seattle, Allen attended Washington State University in Pullman for two years before dropping out to work for Honeywell in Boston near Harvard University, where Gates was enrolled as a computer science student. It was a short time later that Allen reportedly convinced Gates to drop out of the Ivy League school to pursue their Microsoft dream.

Allen left Microsoft in early 1983 after he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a disease that would claim his life in 2018. In the intervening years, Allen invested heavily in technology and media companies, amassing wealth that placed him among the richest people in the world with an estimated net worth of $20 billion at the time of his death. An avid sports fan, Allen owned the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. The Seahawks made three Super Bowl appearances during Allen’s time as owner, winning the NFL championship in 2014.

2025 January 21 - Historical Quote - Paul Allen - headshot
Paul Allen*

In addition to his many business ventures, Allen also was a philanthropist, giving billions of dollars to various education, wildlife, environmental, arts, and health care causes. He also enjoyed sharing his life lessons, periodically reminding audiences, "In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success – if you are willing to learn from it.” 

Other Allen gems:

  • “What should exist? To me, that's the most exciting question imaginable. What do we need that we don't have? How can we realize our potential?”
  • “Any crusade requires optimism and the ambition to aim high.”
  • “As a species, we’ve always been discoverers and adventurers, and space and the ocean are some of the last frontiers.”
  • “Technology is notorious for engrossing people so much that they don't always focus on balance and enjoy life at the same time.”
  • “You look at things you enjoy in your life, but much more important is what you can do to make the world a better place.”

*Miles Harris, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons