Paul Gardner Allen (born in Seattle, Washington) is an American entrepreneur.
With Bill Gates, he formed Microsoft. Allen regularly appears on lists of the richest people in the world; as of 2007 Forbes ranks him the fifth richest American, worth an estimated $18.0 billion. He is the Chairman of Charter Communications, but he is no longer a shareholder in DreamWorks Animation. Allen was recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Allen also owns two professional sports teams: The Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.
In 2007, Allen was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.
He currently resides in Mercer Island, Washington
Philanthropy
Much of Paul Allen's success has been dedicated to health and human services and toward the advancement of science and technology. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation was established in 1986 to administer much of the giving. Through the Foundation, Allen awards nearly $30 million in grants annually. Approximately 75 percent of the Foundation's money goes to non-profit organizations in Seattle and the state of Washington. The remaining 25 percent is distributed to Portland, Oregon and other cities within the Pacific Northwest. Allen also contributes through other charitable projects known as "venture philanthropy". The most famous of those projects are the Experience Music Project, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence through the Allen Telescope Array. Paul Allen's total philanthropy as of 2005 is estimated to be over US$43 million.
The University of Washington has been a major recipient of Paul Allen's donations. In the late 1980s, Allen donated US$18 million to build a new library named after his father, Kenneth S. Allen. In 2003 US$5 million was donated to establish the Faye G. Allen Center for Visual Arts, named after his mother. Allen also was the top private contributor (US$14 million) and namesake of the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering (completed in 2004). Throughout the years, Allen has contributed millions of US dollars to the University of Washington Medical School, most recently US$3.2 million for prostatitis research.
He also has a flower fly named after him for his contributions to Dipterology (see Paul Allen's flower fly).
In 1993, Paul Allen funded the two-year lawsuit in which the family of rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix regained the rights to his music after the estate administrator allegedly sold them without permission. Allen has also funded the purchase of many Hendrix artifacts (including the guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock) and ensured their public display in the Experience Music Project exhibits.
From Wikipedia
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