SEATTLE — Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and founder of investment and project management firm Vulcan Inc., which includes its real estate development arm, has died at age 65. Allen passed away Monday from symptoms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Born in 1953 in Seattle, Allen attended school in the Seattle area and founded Microsoft, along with Bill Gates, in 1975. Almost 10 years later, he resigned from Microsoft and began focusing on philanthropic interests and commercial real estate development and investments, as well charity efforts across the Pacific Northwest.
In 1986, Allen and his sister, Jody Allen, founded Vulcan Inc., as a vehicle for real estate, investment, entertainment and philanthropy efforts. The company has built more than 7.8 million feet of office, life sciences, residential and mixed-use projects since 1998.
Included in Vulcan’s development portfolio is South Lake Union, the hub of Amazon in Seattle; the Allen Institute of Brain Science; and the Allen Institute of Cell Science, and combined these properties comprise 80 percent of the company’s development efforts.
As owner of the Seattle Seahawks since 1997, Allen invested $140 million toward the construction of CenturyLink Field. Additional commercial properties that Vulcan and Allen contributed to include Museum of Pop Culture; Experience Music Project in Seattle Center; Living Computer: Museum + Labs; and the Cinerama movie theater, which was remodeled in 2014 to include the world’s first commercial digital laser projector, in Belltown.
“All of us who had the honor of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today,” said Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf. “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.”
Speaking on behalf of Vulcan Inc., the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers, Stratolaunch Systems, the Allen Institute and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Hilf continued, “Millions of people were touched by his generosity, his persistence in pursuit of a better world, and his drive to accomplish as much as he could with the time and resources at his disposal.”
According to Forbes.com, Allen’s net worth was $20.3 billion.