Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen dies: A look back at his life milestones

Allen has been an avid technology investor and philanthropist, having spearheaded multiple high-tech ventures. At 21, he co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975.

Iconic Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen passed away on 15 October at the age of 65 from complications arising out of his long battle with cancer. Allen has been an avid technology investor and philanthropist, having spearheaded multiple high-tech ventures.

He also owned two major professional sports teams, the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. In 2007 and 2008 respectively, he was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time. He was estimated to be the 46th-richest person at the time of death, with a net worth of USD 20.3 billion.

Here is a look at the major milestones of Allen’s life that spanned 65 years from 1953 to 2018.

1953: Paul Allen was born on January 21 in Seattle, Washington in US.

1968: He met Bill Gates for the first time at Lakeside High School in Seattle, which both of them attended as youngsters.

1975:  At age 21, he along with Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University and co-founded Microsoft. The duo started marketing a BASIC programming language interpreter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, US.

1980:  Allen led the deal for Microsoft to buy QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was written by computer programmer Tim Paterson. With this deal, Microsoft was successful in securing a big contract to supply DOS to be run in IBM’s PCs.

1983: Allen left Microsoft after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and to pursue research and philanthropic endeavors.

1986: He founded Vulcan Ventures, which focused on making new investments in emerging technology companies.

1992: He co-founded Interval Research Corporation, a startup lab and incubator which filed over 300 patents. Four of these 300 patents were involved in Paul Allen’s 2010 patent infringement lawsuit against 11 internet companies, including AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo!, and YouTube.

2000: Allen officially resigned from his position as the Microsoft board of directors on November 9, 2000.

2003: Allen helped establish the Allen Institute for Brain Science with a USD 100 million funding. The institute focuses on deep research to comprehend the functioning of the human brain.

2009: Allen receives diagnosis for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

2011: Allen co-founded a private space transport company, Stratolaunch Systems. The initial test flights are scheduled in 2019, with commercial launch to be expected by 2020.

2018: Allen passed away in hometown Seattle from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on 15 October

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