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Paul Allen, Entrepreneur
Paul
Gardner Allen
(born January 21, 1953 in Seattle, Washington)
is an American entrepreneur.
With
Bill Gates, he formed Microsoft. Allen regularly
appears on lists of the richest people in the
world; as of 2007 Forbes ranks him the
fifth richest American, worth an estimated $18.0
billion. He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan
Inc. (his private asset management company) and
chairman of Charter Communications. Allen also
has a multibillion dollar investment portfolio
which includes large stakes in DreamWorks Animation
SKG, Digeo, Oxygen Media, real estate holdings
and more than 40 other technology, media and content
companies.
Allen
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.
In
2007, Allen was listed among Time Magazine's 100
Most Influential People in The World.
He
currently resides in Mercer Island, Washington.
Early
years
Paul
Gardner Allen was born in Seattle, Washington
to parents Kenneth S. Allen, an associate director
of the University of Washington libraries, and
Faye G. Allen, in 1953. Allen attended Lakeside
Elementary School, a prestigious private school
in Seattle, and befriended Gates, who was two
years his junior but shared a common enthusiasm
for computers. Allen was a model student in his
years at Lakeside School. They used Lakeside's
teletype terminal to develop their programming
skills on several timesharing computer systems.
After graduation, Allen attended Washington State
University, and was an active member in Phi Kappa
Theta Fraternity, though he dropped out after
two years to go and work as a programmer for Honeywell
in Boston, which placed him near his old friend
again. He later convinced Gates to drop out of
Harvard University in order to create Microsoft.
Microsoft
-
With
Bill Gates, he co-founded
Microsoft (initially "Micro-Soft") in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, in 1975, and began selling a BASIC
programming language interpreter. In 1980, Allen
spearheaded a deal for Microsoft to buy an operating
system called 86-DOS (QDOS) for $50,000. Due to
IBM deadlines, Gates and Allen felt that they
didn't have enough time to develop an operating
system from scratch; they therefore purchased
the fully functional QDOS and reworked the code
to fit IBM's needs. Microsoft won a contract to
supply the finished program for use as the operating
system of IBM's new PC. This became a foundation
of Microsoft's growth..
In
1983 Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
Before resigning from Microsoft to pursue medical
treatment, it is alleged that Allen overheard
a discussion between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer
regarding Allen's health and talking about how
to get Allen's shares back if he were to die.
Allen himself has neither confirmed nor denied
this allegation and there is no recorded evidence
of the discussion. Allen's cancer was successfully
treated by several months of radiation therapy
and a bone marrow transplant. However, Allen did
not return to Microsoft and began distancing himself
from the company.
In
November 2000, Allen resigned from his position
on the Microsoft board but was asked to consult
as a senior strategy advisor to the company's
executives. He further distanced himself from
Microsoft by selling 68 million shares. He still
owns a reported 138 million shares.
Philanthropy
Much
of Paul Allen's success has been dedicated to
health and human services and toward the advancement
of science and technology. The Paul G. Allen Family
Foundation was established in 1986 to administer
much of the giving. Through the Foundation, Allen
awards approximately $30 million in grants annually.
Roughly 60 percent of the Foundation's money goes
to non-profit organizations in Seattle and the
state of Washington and 12 percent to Portland,
Oregon. The remaining 28 percent is distributed
to other cities within the Pacific Northwest.
Allen also contributes through other charitable
projects known as "venture philanthropy". The
most famous of those projects are Experience Music
Project, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of
Fame, Allen Institute for Brain Science, and the
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence through
the Allen Telescope Array. The Allen Institute
for Brain Science is located at 551 N 34th Street,
Seattle, WA, 98102 (Fremont neighborhood of Seattle).
The
University of Washington has been a major recipient
of Paul Allen's donations. In the late 1980s,
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 Center for Visual Arts, named after his
mother. Allen also was the top private contributor
(US$14 million) and namesake of the Paul G. Allen
Center for Computer Science & Engineering
(completed in 2004). Throughout the years, Allen
has contributed millions of US dollars to the
University of Washington Medical School. In 1997
the Foundation awarded US$3.2 million for prostatitis
research, followed by an additional US$1.0 million
grant in 2002. Most recently the Foundation contributed
US$5.0 million for an early cancer-detection project
by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Paul
Allen's total lifetime giving as of 2007 is estimated
by some sources to be approximately US$900 million.
Critics would point out, though, that Paul Allen
is the recipient of numerous government handouts.
The stadium that his Seahawks play in was paid
for with US$300 million of tax payer dollars.
King County (Washington state) is paying US$36
million to build a sewage treatment plant whose
only customer is Paul Allen's Willows Run Golf
Course. The City of Seattle is paying US$22 million
to build a streetcar line to connect Paul Allen's
Lake Union biotech development project to downtown
Seattle. It has been reported in the media that
Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc company is lobbying for
road improvements in the Lake Union area that
would cost Seattle as much as $200 million. If
these road improvements occur, they would cause
the value of Vulcan's real estate to increase,
which causes critics to ask why Seattle (and not
Vulcan itself) should bear the cost.
He
also has a flower fly named after him for his
contributions to Dipterology (see Paul Allen's
flower fly).
Allen
has also funded the purchase of many Hendrix artifacts
(including the guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock)
and ensured their public display in the Experience
Music Project exhibits.
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 and mixed-use
community. Allen is the largest private landowner
in South Lake Union and owns nearly 60 acres in
the neighborhood. Vulcan's South Lake Union holdings
have a development capacity of more than 10,000,000 square
feet (930,000 m²) of new residential,
office, retail and biotech research space. The
South Lake Union redevelopment represents one
of the largest urban revitalization projects in
the country. This development has been criticized
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 Seattle Streetcar
line from Seattle's Westlake Center to the south
end of Lake Union that is expected to begin operating
by the end of 2007.
Other investments
At
one time, Allen's Vulcan Ventures owned TechTV,
a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in
San Francisco, featuring news and shows about
computers, technology, and the Internet. TechTV
was eventually acquired by G4.
Sports
involvement
In
1988, Allen purchased the Portland Trail Blazers
NBA team from California real estate developer
Larry Weinberg (businessman) for $70 million,
and was instrumental in the development and funding
of their Rose Garden Arena in 1993.
In
1997, Allen purchased the Seattle Seahawks NFL
team when former owner Ken Behring threatened
to move the Seahawks to Southern California. He
played a large part in the development of the
new Seahawks' stadium, Qwest Field, although it
was funded largely by tax revenue.
Since
2006, Allen asked Portland and Oregon officials
for assistance in the financing of the Blazers,
which he estimated would lose $100 million over
the next three years. Portland Mayor Tom Potter
rebuffed the requests. On April 2, 2007 Allen
announced the completion of the acquisition of
the Rose Garden Arena and at the time stated that
this was a major milestone and a positive step
for the franchise. “My efforts are focused
on continuing to support the Trail Blazers and
the long-term financial health of the franchise."
According
to a 2006 issue of Forbes, the Blazers
are valued at approximately $300 million.
On
27 April 2007, it was rumoured that Allen may
launch a takeover bid for English football club
Southampton. An apparent close source said "he
believes there is long term investment value in
UK Soccer. Southampton is a sleeping giant, a
family-supported club with traditional values,
and we see the value in taking the brand global.".
Allen has since denied those rumors and has expressed
that he has no interest in making a bid for Southampton.
SpaceShipOne
In
2004, Allen confirmed that he was the sole investor
behind Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne
suborbital commercial spacecraft. SpaceShipOne
was the first privately funded effort to successfully
put a civilian in suborbital space and winner
of the Ansari X PRIZE competition.
Octopus
In
2003, the launch of Paul Allen's 127 m (416 ft)
Octopus secured its position as one of the world's
largest yachts. Its current position is sixth
in the List of motor yachts by length. Allen has
two other very large yachts.
He
is known for throwing huge, celebrity-studded
parties on the yachts, such as a 2005 New Year's
Eve party in which he and his band played Johnny
Cash songs with RnB star Usher. This famous mega
yacht is situated at the port of Antibes/French
Côte. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
Websites
Paul
Allen official website
Paul
G. Allen Family Foundation
News
Press
Release
Paul
G. Allen Family Foundation Awards $9.6 Million
in Grants
Latest
grants benefit nearly 100 nonprofit organizations
in the Pacific Northwest
SEATTLE,
Wash. – October 16, 2007 – A shared
information technology project to serve children
with special needs in Yakima, Wash.; the renovation
of a historic theater to house a symphony orchestra
in Spokane, Wash.; a capital campaign to build
a crisis service center in Anchorage, Alaska;
and the expansion of a much-needed medical clinic
in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. These are
just four of the initiatives that will be advanced
by funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
(PGAFF) through its philanthropic grants from
the spring 2007 application period.
The
Foundation announced today that a total of $9,604,500
has been awarded to 96 nonprofit organizations
throughout the five-state Pacific Northwest region
(Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska).
In the current giving cycle, PGAFF continues to
direct a majority of its funding in the form of
capacity building and capital grants, which enhance
a nonprofit organization’s ability to achieve
its mission effectively and to sustain itself
over the long term. These types of grants focus
on improving infrastructure and technology, funding
facility improvements and enhancing organizational
development to improve the services provided to
clients and customers.
“The
Foundation’s goal is to advance the efforts
of nonprofit organizations that improve the quality
of life in the Pacific Northwest,” said
Susan M. Coliton, senior director of the Paul
G. Allen Family Foundation. “We believe
one of the best ways to do that is by providing
funds and tools that help nonprofits become stronger,
more self-sustaining, and better able to serve
their communities over the long-term. We are pleased
that these latest grants will empower a wide range
of nonprofit organizations in the Northwest to
achieve their charitable goals more effectively
and create lasting change within our local communities.”
Currently,
few foundations and venture philanthropists have
committed to investing in the organizational capacity
of the nonprofits that they fund. A 2005 survey
by the Foundation Center, a leading authority
on philanthropy, revealed that only 20 percent
of grants awarded by more than 1,200 private and
community foundations were for capacity building
and operating support. A 2007 report by Grantmakers
for Effective Organizations points out that the
current level of capacity building grants is small
in comparison to other forms of charitable giving.
By contrast, over 50 percent of grants awarded
by PGAFF during its latest giving cycle –
totaling about $5 million – were geared
towards building organizational capacity within
nonprofits.
Charitable
contributions in the most recent grant cycle were
focused in three program areas, with $3,955,500
for arts and culture grants, $3,905,000 for community
development and social change programs, and $1,744,000
for youth engagement programs.
Highlights
of the grants in the arts and culture program
area include: $350,000 (a 1:1 challenge
grant) to the Fox Theatre (Spokane, Wash.)
to support a capital campaign to renovate the
historic building to house Spokane Symphony Orchestra
and other local arts organizations and support
economic revitalization of downtown Spokane; $350,000
to Portland Opera (Portland) to help
address technology infrastructure needs and make
capital improvements that will expand production
and public access spaces, increase patron comforts,
and make the building more energy efficient; $350,000
(1:1 Challenge) to the Village Theatre (Issaquah,
Wash.) to help build a new 14,500-square-foot
technical studio near the Francis J. Gaudette
Theatre in Issaquah in order to consolidate technical
production functions and to renovate the historic
1914 First Stage Theater to bring it up to code
and increase patron comfort; and $225,000
to Missoula Art Museum (Missoula, Mont.)
to support a capacity building project focused
on resource, audience, and leadership development
to help the Missoula Art Museum sustain its operations
in its newly expanded and renovated facility.
Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle received
a $500,000 1:1 Challenge grant to support
a capital campaign to develop the historic Colman
School building in Seattle's Central District
consisting of 36 affordable rental housing units
and a 17,000-square-foot Northwest African-American
Museum.
Community
development and social change grant highlights
include a $50,000 grant for Covenant House
(Anchorage) to support a feasibility
study and planning for a capital campaign to house
its crisis services for homeless youth; $60,000
grant to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital
to research and plan a shared information technology
project for multiple agencies that serve children
with special needs at the Children's Village in
Yakima; a $150,000 capacity building grant
to Centro de la Raza (Seattle) to fund
resource development; $155,000 to FareStart
(Seattle) to help the organization build
out its administrative infrastructure as it trains
underprivileged workers in the restaurant arts;
and $80,000 grant to the Market Foundation
(Seattle) to expand the Pike Place Market
Medical Center.
To
improve youth engagement in the five-state focus
area, grant highlights include a $175,000
multi-year grant to The Children's Institute (Portland)
to develop their infrastructure and provide support
for policy development and advocacy for early
childhood education programs throughout Oregon;
a $75,000 grant to Digital Learning Commons
(Seattle) to fund a two-year, statewide
project to enhance the organization’s ability
to provide internet-based classes and online resources
to Washington schools; a $50,000 grant
to Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (La Conner,
Wash.) to support Native Lens, a youth
digital media making program; $250,000
capital campaign grant to the University of Montana
Foundation (Missoula, Mont.) to fund
the Phyllis J. Washington Education Center: and
a $100,000 grant to the Hearing, Speech,
and Deafness Center (Seattle) to help
build a new literacy lab.
The
Foundation also awarded 10 percent of its latest
funding in the form of artistic creation and presentation
grants, which directly support specific programs
by local, regional, and national artists.
Highlights include a $10,000 grant to
the Boise Contemporary Theatre (Boise, Idaho)
to support a production of Maria Dahvana
Headley's new play entitled "Last of the Breed;"
and a $60,000 grant to Perseverance Theatre
(Douglas, Alaska) to support two
new productions including Brian Tucker's "An Apology
for Storms" and Paula Vogel's "The Long Christmas
Ride Home."
During
this latest giving cycle, the Foundation funded
60 nonprofits in Washington, 20 in Oregon, nine
in Montana, two in Idaho, three in Alaska and
two region-wide projects. A complete list of grants
awarded in the current cycle can be accessed at
www.pgafamilyfoundation.org/grantlist.
Launched
by Microsoft co-founder, investor and philanthropist
Paul G. Allen in 1988, the Allen family’s
philanthropy advances arts and cultural endeavors,
funds programs that engage children more deeply
in the learning process, and responds to the needs
of vulnerable populations. Named one of the top
philanthropists in the United States by The Chronicle
of Philanthropy, Allen has donated more than $937
million via the Foundation, personal donations,
venture philanthropy projects and other charitable
giving.
Since
its inception, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
has awarded grants to nearly 1,600 diverse nonprofit
groups to support and advance their critical charitable
endeavors in the Pacific Northwest. The Foundation
reviews and awards grants twice per year, and
accepts applications from eligible organizations
located in – or serving the populations
of – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and
Washington. Eligible nonprofit organizations are
encouraged to submit letters of inquiry (LOIs)
at least a month in advance of the Foundation’s
March 15 and August 15 proposal deadlines. Staff
and the Foundation’s board review proposals
to determine those projects that best meet the
Foundation’s funding priorities and review
criteria.
About
the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Launched
in 2004 through the consolidation of Allen’s
six private foundations (first established in
1988), the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation supports
nonprofit organizations focused on making positive
and measurable change in the Pacific Northwest.
The mission of the Foundation is to build healthy
communities and advance social progress through
four strategic programs. Visit the Foundation
on-line at www.pgafamilyfoundation.org
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