Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died of cancer: what he remembered

Paul Allen was born in 1953. At school, he met Bill Gates, with whom he founded Microsoft in 1975. Allen received a 36% stake in the company, Gates 64%. In 1982, Allen was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, in 1983, he left Microsoft for treatment. Then he coped with the disease in eight months.

“My heart is broken because of the loss of one of my oldest and dearest friends. Without it, we would not have personal computers, ”said Bill Gates, as The Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.

After leaving Microsoft, Allen was actively involved in investing, he invested in technology companies, the development of science and sports. Allen's investments include Dreamworks Studio, the Portland Trail Blazers professional basketball club, and the Seahawks American football team.

In 2004, the SpaceShipOne spacecraft, built with the participation of Allen, became the first privately-owned ship to successfully launch a man into a suborbital space. In 2011, Allen founded the company Stratolaunch Systems, which is working on a carrier aircraft to deliver astronauts and cargo to orbit. In May, 2018, the company for the first time showed aircraft.

Paul Allen became a billionaire in 1990, at the age of 37. On October 16 2018, Forbes estimated his fortune at $ 20,3 billion. Allen spent all his life more than $ 2 billion in charity and research related to climate change issues, the Ebola epidemic, and others.