# Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft died at 65 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002 "2018-10-15T22:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/1 "2018-10-15T22:28:08Z")
Also owned the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers He left MS very early due to cancer > **[Seahawks, Blazers owner Paul Allen dies at 65](https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/24992365/seahawks-trail-blazers-owner-paul-allen-dies-65)** > > Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers, has died at the age of 65. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/2 "2018-10-15T23:04:02Z")
Note: > [@](#): > > 1982 Revenue/Headcount: The 1982 year-end sales total $24,486,000. The 1982 Calendar Year employee headcount totals 220 people. [https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1982](https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1982) > [@](#): > > February 18, 1983: Paul Allen resigns as Microsoft’s executive vice president, but remains on the Board of Directors. [https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1983](https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1983) So Microsoft was a small company when he left. But he was smart enough to keep his shares so he became extremely rich. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/3 "2018-10-15T23:28:56Z")
Jesus, this is disappointing. He really tried to contribute to neuroscience. I hope he left money in his estate for neuroscience research. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/4 "2018-10-16T01:33:35Z")
I have a college friend named John who, for a long time, kept a decades-old DEC PDP-10 computer in running condition. (I have _no_ idea if it’s still up and running.) Once he told me about how some guy from Seattle wanted an old magtape read and converted to modern digital media. So one day two guys showed up at John’s house with the tape. John was able to read it and gave it back along with a floppy disc containing the contents. So when John told this story, I said, “Wait, Paul _Allen_? That was the guy?” The magtape contained the original BASIC that was Microsoft’s first product and which Paul and Bill Gates wrote on a DEC PDP-10 at Harvard. (It may have been the only copy in existence, which is probably why those guys flew in on a private jet for this errand.) ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/5 "2018-10-16T02:03:22Z")
ah, so sad. the contribution to computing, and the money. And not having a long life to enjoy it. sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/6 "2018-10-16T02:21:40Z")
He did seem to enjoy the money for a good long while, including a ridiculously fancy [yacht](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_(yacht)), NBA team _and_ an NFL team. Plus he indulged his geeky interests in other ways not available to us mere mortals. And he gave away billions to charities. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/7 "2018-10-16T02:54:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Jesus, this is disappointing. > > He really tried to contribute to neuroscience. I hope he left money in his estate for neuroscience research. Without a doubt he did: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/billions/2010/07/15/allen-steps-up-to-buffett-and-gates-billionaire-challenge/#5c1a98b43ea2](https://www.forbes.com/sites/billions/2010/07/15/allen-steps-up-to-buffett-and-gates-billionaire-challenge/#5c1a98b43ea2) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/8 "2018-10-16T03:17:01Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Without a doubt he did: > > [Allen Steps Up to Buffett and Gates' Billionaire Challenge](https://www.forbes.com/sites/billions/2010/07/15/allen-steps-up-to-buffett-and-gates-billionaire-challenge/#5c1a98b43ea2) I hope so. It ws kind of depressing to hear that him putting $300 million into neuroscience research helped advance the field. That figure (300 million) seems so small for a field so important. Hopefully he left a few billion for public neuroscience research. > [@Mikemike2](#): > > ah, so sad. the contribution to computing, and the money. And not having a long life to enjoy it. sucks. Didn’t he have parties on his yachts that people had to sign non-disclosure agreements just to participate in? If so, I’d assume that meant a lot of sex and drugs. So he enjoyed himself. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/9 "2018-10-16T03:42:57Z")
Mikemike2: > [@](#): > > And not having a long life to enjoy it. Thank heaven we live in a world where we can, with a straight face, refer to 65 as “not a long life.” ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/10 "2018-10-16T11:10:24Z")
he never married or had kids so there is no direct family to inherit his estate. I think his sister is his only sibling. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/11 "2018-10-16T11:42:26Z")
Well, I hope he had a will and did other estate planning (unlike Prince, who apparently died without a will). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/12 "2018-10-16T21:30:16Z")
would be pretty shocking if a guy like him had no will. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/13 "2018-10-16T21:48:40Z")
I agree, but I was surprised that Prince died intestate. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/14 "2018-10-16T22:55:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I agree, but I was surprised that Prince died intestate. Yeah but Allen had a history of cancer and Prince had an OD. Also Prince was a little younger, in his 50s. Assuming he didn’t have one, I wonder if everything just goes to his sister. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/15 "2018-10-17T15:33:38Z")
guy who wrote Girl with the dragon tattoo and the sequels did not marry his girlfriend and had no will so his money went to his parents. He died at 50. Celebs may not have wills but the super rich like Allen normally have a will since the cost to them is pocket change. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/16 "2018-10-17T16:44:29Z")
The cost to get a will drawn is very low; I think the biggest difference is that Allen was conscious of the future, while many people avoid even thinking it exists. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-allen-co-founder-of-microsoft-died-at-65/823002/17 "2018-10-17T17:20:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I wonder if everything just goes to his sister. I’ll post this again: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/billions/2010/07/15/allen-steps-up-to-buffett-and-gates-billionaire-challenge/#2f06b4c23ea2](https://www.forbes.com/sites/billions/2010/07/15/allen-steps-up-to-buffett-and-gates-billionaire-challenge/#2f06b4c23ea2) Allen was among the many billionaires to take the [Warren Buffett Giving Pledge](https://givingpledge.org/) - committing to donate the bulk of their net worth to charity upon their death.