Paul Allen has died. The co-founder of Microsoft, and an investor who bet often far in advance on new technology, medical research, and urban initiatives was 65. His real-estate venture, Vulcan, released news of his death the afternoon of Oct. 15 in Seattle.
Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf said in a statement, “All of us who had the honor of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today. He possessed a remarkable intellect and a passion to solve some of the world’s most difficult problems, with the conviction that creative thinking and new approaches could make profound and lasting impact.”
The statement showed the diversity of Allen’s interests, as it was made on behalf of the company; Allen’s two sports teams, the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers; Stratolaunch Systems, a firm designing an air-based space-launch system; and two non-profits: the Allen Institute, a bioscience research organization, and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which focuses on providing free data and tools to AI researchers.
Allen had suffered multiple bouts of cancer, starting with a diagnosis in 1982, just seven years after he and Bill Gates founded Microsoft together. He recovered, but contracted a different in 2009, from which he was also considered in remission. On Oct. 1, he and his firm posted the latest diagnosis. He was optimistic about the outcome.
Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, said in statement provided by Vulcan and on behalf of his family, “While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much-loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend. Paul’s family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his generosity and deep concern.”
Through Vulcan and other investments, Allen was instrumental in reshaping Seattle’s building landscape to provide the space as a first home for companies founded in the city, like Amazon, as they massively expanded, and as increasingly large outposts for Silicon Valley firms like Google and Facebook.
