Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Dies of Cancer at 65

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, died from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Monday afternoon. Allen was 65 years old and revealed earlier this month that he was receiving treatment for the disease, the same disease he had fought and conquered in 2009.

Allen ranked among the world’s wealthiest individuals. As of Monday afternoon, he ranked 44th on Forbes’ 2018 list of billionaires with an estimated net worth of more than $20 billion. He was also the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers. He was an avid electric guitarist who enjoyed jamming with celebrity musicians such as Mick Jagger and Bono, and he funded the Experience Music Project in Seattle (now dubbed the Museum of Pop Culture), devoted to the history of rock music and dedicated to his musical hero Jimi Hendrix.

Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf said, “All of us who had the honor of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today.” Vulcan is a network of philanthropic efforts and organizations that Allen utilized to support research in artificial intelligence and new frontier technologies. The group also invested in Seattle’s cultural institutions and the revitalization of parts of the city.

Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft with Allen, said that “personal computing would not have existed without him.”

See Christine Wang, Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Dies of Cancer at Age 65, CNBC, October 15, 2018.