Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, passed away at the age of 65
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Paul Allen , American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, which he and his school friend Bill Gates founded in 1975, died on October 15, 2018 in Seattle (USA), after complications from a relapse of cancer.
This was reported by CNBC with reference to the statement of the Allen family.
Although the majority knew Paul Allen as a developer and philanthropist, for us he was a beloved brother, uncle and friend ... At the time of loss and grief, we express deep gratitude for the care he showed us every day.- said in a family statement.
Paul Allen was born in 1953 and since childhood was fond of electronics. At school, in programming classes, he met Bill Gates. Later Allen went into business with him in the field of programming and computer equipment. In 1975, Allen and Gates founded Microsoft together, dividing the shares in unequal shares - 36% for Allen and 64% for Gates.
Photo 20minutes.fr
At first they thought of calling their company “Allen and Gates”, but they thought it was more appropriate for a law firm, and then Paul suggested the name Micro-Soft from microprocessors and software. In the captions of the interpreter of the BASIC language, created by them for the MITS order, they included the following line:
Micro-Soft BASIC: “Paul Allen wrote support codes. Bill Gates wrote executable codes. Monte Davidoff wrote a math library. ”
In 1982, Paul Allen discovered Hodgkin's lymphoma . He was treated for cancer very aggressively - these types of treatment are usually resorted to when the other options are over, and the patient has nothing to lose. As part of the treatment, the businessman was irradiated with large doses of radiation, and then resorted to bone marrow transplantation. As a result, he defeated the disease.
Due to illness, Paul Allen had to leave Microsoft in 1983, retaining some of the shares and a seat on the board of directors. Although after a while he prevailed in the struggle with the disease, he never returned to Microsoft.
In the memoirs of 2011, Allen shed light on the background of his departure. While he did not want to devote his life to Microsoft, Gates was completely focused on the work and development of the company. At the insistence of Gates, the partners repeatedly reviewed their stakes in the business, with Allen losing in favor of Gates. Parting with Microsoft was hard for Allen, he described it in his book:
My partner wanted to grab as much as possible and no longer let go of anything. With this I could not reconcile ... Then I thought that at some point I would have to leave.
But, having lost the main business of his life, Paul Allen did not despair and sit back, instead he took up the investment business, investing in technology start-ups. For example, he invested more than a billion dollars in projects such as building the first private suborbital ship, as well as a large radio telescope to search for extraterrestrial life. In addition, he owned the Seattle Seahawks football club and the Portland Trail Blazers basketball club.
In 2009, Allen was diagnosed with another type of oncology of the lymphatic system - non-Hodgkin's lymphoma , which he recovered from undergoing chemotherapy.
More recently, in early October 2018, Paul Allen reported a recurrence of a long-standing disease - non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A 65-year-old businessman faced the same form of cancer as in 2009, when he was able to recover, but the disease again overtook him.
The team of doctors has already begun treatment, and I plan to fight aggressively. Much has changed in medicine since I defeated this disease in 2009. My doctors are well-disposed and believe that the therapy will bear fruit, and I agree with them- optimistically declared Paul Allen.
Unfortunately, he could not beat the cancer for the third time. After two weeks of struggling for life, Paul Allen died as a result of complications of the disease.