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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 16 OcTOber 2018

Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist Paul Allen dies at 65

By PHUONG LE power.
Associated Press Over the course of several
SEATTLE (AP) — Paul G. Al- decades, Allen gave more
len, who co-founded Mi- than $2 billion to a wide
crosoft with his childhood range of interests, including
friend Bill Gates before ocean health, homeless-
becoming a billionaire phi- ness and advancing scien-
lanthropist who invested in tific research.
conservation, space travel Allen was on the list of
and professional sports, America’s wealthiest peo-
died Monday. He was 65. ple who pledged to give
He died in Seattle from away the bulk of their for-
complications of non- tunes to charity. “Those
Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his fortunate to achieve great
company Vulcan Inc. an- wealth should put it to work
nounced. for the good of humanity,”
Microsoft CEO Satya he said.
Nadella called Allen’s con- When he released his 2011
tributions to the company, memoir, “Idea Man,” he
community and industry allowed 60 Minutes inside
“indispensable.” his home on Lake Washing-
“As co-founder of Micro- ton, across the water from
soft, in his own quiet and Seattle, revealing collec-
persistent way, he created tions that ranged from the
magical products, experi- In this Oct. 12, 2015 file photo, Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen looks on before the start of guitar Jimi Hendrix played
ences and institutions, and the first quarter of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. at Woodstock to vintage
in doing so, he changed Associated Press war planes and a 300-foot
the world,” Nadella wrote A world with a computer in its eventual home in Red- 1991, Microsoft’s operating yacht with its own subma-
on Twitter. every home. mond. systems were used by 93 rine.
Two weeks ago, Allen an- Gates so strongly believed Microsoft’s big break came percent of the world’s per- Allen served as Microsoft’s
nounced that the non- it that he left Harvard Uni- in 1980, when IBM Corp. sonal computers. executive vice president of
Hodgkin’s lymphoma versity in his junior year to decided to move into The Windows operating sys- research and new product
that he was treated for in devote himself full-time personal computers and tem is now used on most of development until 1983,
2009 had returned and he to his and Allen’s startup, asked Microsoft to provide the world’s desktop com- when he resigned after be-
planned to fight it aggres- originally called Micro-Soft. the operating system. puters, and Word is the cor- ing diagnosed with cancer.
sively. Allen spent two years at Gates and company didn’t nerstone of the company’s “To be 30 years old and
“My brother was a remark- Washington State Univer- invent the operating sys- prevalent Office products. have that kind of shock
able individual on every sity before dropping out as tem. To meet IBM’s needs, Gates and Allen became — to face your mortal-
level,” Allen’s sister Jody well. they spent $50,000 to buy billionaires when Microsoft ity — really makes you feel
Allen said in a statement. They founded the com- one known as QDOS from was thrust onto the throne like you should do some of
“Paul’s family and friends pany in Albuquerque, New another programmer, Tim of technology. the things that you haven’t
were blessed to experience Mexico, and their first prod- Paterson. Eventually the With his sister Jody Allen in done yet,” Allen said in a
his wit, warmth, his generos- uct was a computer lan- product refined by Micro- 1986, Paul Allen founded 2000 book, “Inside Out: Mi-
ity and deep concern,” she guage for the Altair hobby- soft — and renamed DOS, Vulcan, the investment firm crosoft in Our Own Words.”
added. kit personal computer, giv- for Disk Operating System that oversees his business His influence is firmly im-
Allen, an avid sports fan, ing hobbyists a basic way — became the core of IBM and philanthropic efforts. printed on the cultural
owned the Portland Trail to program and operate PCs and their clones, cata- He founded the Allen Insti- landscape of Seattle and
Blazers and the Seattle Se- the machine. pulting Microsoft into its tute for Brain Science and the Pacific Northwest, from
ahawks. After Gates and Allen dominant position in the PC the aerospace firm Strato- the bright metallic Museum
Allen and Gates met while found some success sell- industry. launch, which has built a of Pop Culture designed
attending a private school ing their programming lan- The first versions of two clas- colossal airplane designed by architect Frank Gehry
in north Seattle. The two guage, MS-Basic, the Se- sic Microsoft products, Mi- to launch satellites into or- to the computer science
friends would later drop attle natives moved their crosoft Word and the Win- bit. center at the University of
out of college to pursue business in 1979 to Bellevue, dows operating system, He has also backed re- Washington that bears his
the future they envisioned: Washington, not far from were released in 1983. By search into nuclear-fusion name.q