Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 22 october 2018

What's next for Paul Allen's big investments? It's not clear

By SALLY HO and FRANK supported would continue cades who collaborated
BAJAK after he was no longer able with him on a number of
Associated Press to lead them." Company technology projects.Al-
SEATTLE (AP) — Prior to his representatives declined len's "tactical" investments
death on Monday, billion- to discuss specifics given in brain science and artifi-
aire Microsoft co-founder his recent passing but said cial intelligence research,
Paul Allen invested large there are no imminent where he provided guid-
sums in technology ven- changes planned for the ance as well as money,
tures, research projects number of institutions and were particularly notable,
and philanthropy, some of programs that Allen led Lazarus said. Allen speci-
it eclectic and highly spec- and funded. fied that the results of the
ulative. What happens to In the world of big-ticket brain research, for exam-
those commitments now? philanthropy, meanwhile, ple, should remain publicly
Outside of bland assuranc- it's rare for a foundation available.
es from his investment com- to have no obvious next- Allen's sister, Jody Allen, co-
pany, no one seems quite In this Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, file photo a portrait of Paul Allen generation heirs, said Amir founded their 30-year-old
sure. stands on a wall at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Sci- Pasic, dean of the Lilly Fam- Paul G. Allen Family Foun-
Allen died in Seattle from ence & Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. ily School of Philanthropy at dation. She's listed as its di-
complications of non- Associated Press Indiana University. rector and president on the
Hodgkin's lymphoma, ac- "Clearly, there wasn't a pre- private nonprofit founda-
cording to his company is found on most of the space travel and new en- programmed plan to insti- tion's latest IRS tax filing from
Vulcan Inc. He was 65. He world's desktop computers ergy sources to more con- tute on day one after his the 2016 fiscal year, which
never married and had no — for a "second act" as a ventional ventures such as passing," Pasic said. indicates it held net assets
children, and details of his sports-team owner, prolific Uber, Spotify and smaller Allen was tied to many worth $756 million, much of
estate aren't known. investor and philanthropist companies focused on fi- high-profile endeavors, in- it from investments.
Forbes recently estimated after leaving the tech giant nancial technology and cluding commercial real The next step is for the
Allen's net worth at $20.3 in 1983, when he resigned artificial intelligence. Allen estate work redeveloping board to vote on a new
billion. He used much of after being diagnosed with previously invested more Seattle's South Lake Union chairman and any chang-
the money he made from Hodgkin's disease. than $20 million in Space- neighborhood for Amazon. es to the endowment or
Microsoft — whose Win- Allen's technology interests ShipOne, the first privately com's urban campus, own- structure are likely to ap-
dows operating system ran a wide gamut, from financed and manned ership of the NFL's Seattle pear in the next month or
rocket to reach the edge Seahawks and the NBA's so, which could be very sig-
Cybersecurity 'Paul Revere' of space (though not Earth Portland Trail Blazers, and nificant in terms of direction
orbit). It accomplished that even funding underwater and approach, said Jacob
touts adversarial model feat in 2004. expeditions that made im- Harold, president of Guid-
One of Allen's more esoter-
estar, an organization that
portant shipwreck discov-
ic ventures is Stratolaunch, eries. evaluates nonprofits.
BURLINGTON, Mass. (AP) the mindset of allowing which is building an enor- Around town, his legacy "Paul Allen had some very
— Chris Wysopal and his friendly, "white-hat" hack- mous twin-fuselage jet air- is etched on a portfolio of creative philanthropy that's
Boston hacker collective ers to pick apart software craft designed to launch research institutes, muse- somewhat nontraditional,"
pals from the L0pht sound- to expose flaws? satellites from high alti- ums, school buildings, en- Harold said. "His personal
ed the alarm on the sad A: White hats go after the tudes. The vehicle has yet to dowments and programs. stamp was more in his phi-
state of software vulner- thing that is going to get make its first flight, although Allen over his lifetime had lanthropy than is true for
ability in a now-legendary the biggest bang for the the company hosted Vice given more than $2 billion many wealthy individuals."
1998 appearance before buck, generate the most President Mike Pence at its to efforts aimed at improv- In comparison to other
Congress. Then-Sen. Joe Li- impact. That's why we tar- Mojave, California, hangar ing education, science, name-brand philanthro-
eberman hailed the group geted Microsoft and that's during a 2017 visit. technology, conserva- pists, it's unclear if Allen in-
as "modern-day Paul Re- why Microsoft was under But Stratolaunch isn't com- tion and communities. He tended for his wealth to be
veres." the most pressure. menting on its post-Allen tackled climate change, vigorously spent down in or-
Wysopal remains active Q: And the rest of the in- future. A representative advanced brain research der to accelerate the pro-
in cybersecurity today as dustry followed suit? for the company declined and supported his native grams he believed in — like
chief technology officer A: Every (big) company comment, saying "now is Seattle through funding for his Microsoft counterpart Bill
of Veracode, now part of that grew up after Mi- the time to focus on Paul's homelessness services and Gates has pledged to do.
CA Technologies. He spoke crosoft got to start from life and allow his family and cultural institutions. The alternative would be
with The Associated Press scratch — the Googles friends to grieve." Allen was a strong backer for his money to perpetu-
recently on the state of and the Facebooks, the Vulcan likewise declined of Bill Gates and Warren ate through investments so
security. Questions and re- Amazons. The mindset had comment beyond this reas- Buffett's "Giving Pledge" to that his foundation could
sponses have been edited already changed. You surance offered in a state- donate the majority of their live on indefinitely, as steel
for clarity and length. have to build software and ment: "Paul thoughtfully wealth to charity, said Jon tycoon Andrew Carnegie
Q: How did Microsoft in systems securely or you're addressed how the many Lazarus, a friend of Allen's ordered more than a cen-
2002 come to embrace doomed.q institutions he founded and for more than three de- tury ago.q