16 Oct 2018
The Microsoft co-founder passed away Monday afternoon from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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.
Through Vulcan, Allen's network of philanthropic efforts and organizations, the Microsoft co-founder supported 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.
Allen owned two professional sports teams, the NFL Seattle Seahawks and NBA Portland Trailblazers. He was also an electric guitarist who occasionally jammed with celebrity musicians including Bono and Mick Jagger, and a huge music fan. He funded and designed the Experience Music Project in Seattle, devoted to the history of rock music and dedicated to his musical hero Jimi Hendrix. (It has since been re-christened the
Museum of Pop Culture.) The building was designed by architect Frank Gehry to resemble a melted electric guitar.
Vulcan CEO Bill Hilf said, "All of us who had the honor of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today."
"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," Hilf said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Allen revealed that he had started treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same type of cancer he was treated for in 2009. In 1983, Allen left the company he founded with Bill Gates when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, which he defeated.
Source: CNBC