Paul Allen

INDUCTED IN THE CLASS OF 2004

Notable accomplishments:

• Helped Bill Gates port BASIC to the Altair (1975)
• Hired by Ed Roberts to run Altair’s software division (1975)
• Co-founded Micro-Soft (later Microsoft) with Gates (1975)
• Negotiated purchase of “QDOS” from Seattle Computer Products to fulfill contract with IBM for an operating system for their new “Personal Computer” (1980)

Quotes:
“(Bill Gates and I) were very complementary, From a very young age we both became skilled programmers and knowledgeable about the technology landscape, and excited to do something entrepreneurial. Bill and I were both equally fanatical about learning everything we could.” (Interview in The Guardian, May 2, 2011)

“At the end of every school day, a bunch of us would take our little leather satchel briefcases and ride the bus downtown to the computer center. Bill and I were the guys that stayed the latest.” (Quoted by Cory Althoff on SelfTaught.blog)

Suggested reading:
“Idea Man” by Paul Allen (2011)

Learn more:
Biography at PaulAllen.com