Paul Allen, two years older than Bill Gates, was born in 1953 and attended the same high school in Seattle. A prodigy, he scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT (Gates scored 1590) and began programming on a teletype machine at age 14. He was sought after by Harvard and MIT but chose Washington State University, attracted by its computer lab where his father was deputy librarian—he even borrowed his father’s keys to access the lab.

After two years, Allen left college, finding the courses too easy, and became a programmer. Later, he persuaded Gates to leave Harvard, and in 1975 they co-founded Microsoft in New Mexico. Together, they were masters of BASIC and promised to develop operating systems for IBM. By 1981, Microsoft had become a top software company.

At 29, Allen was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1982 and recovered after nine months of treatment. He formally retired from Microsoft in 2000, remaining as a strategic advisor. In 2009, at age 56, he faced a second bout of lymphoma and survived.

Allen dedicated substantial effort and resources to philanthropy, focusing on sports, education, and culture. He funded libraries and computer engineering schools at his alma mater, supported Seattle museums, established a cellular research institute, contributed to disaster relief fleets, environmental protection, and historic ship salvage. He also founded a family foundation to assist underprivileged families and out-of-school children.

Allen remained a close friend and mentor to Gates, contributing tirelessly alongside him. He also enjoyed life to the fullest, owning luxury yachts and engaging in varied pursuits.

In 2018, Allen passed away at his Seattle home after a third cancer recurrence. He never married or had children and donated half of his wealth to charity. By 2013, his net worth was approximately $15 billion, and by 2018, it had grown to $25 billion. He had just reached retirement age and had not yet had the chance to dedicate even more to charitable work.