Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates. Together, they built Microsoft into a multibillion-dollar empire by developing software that revolutionized the world of personal computing. Allen left the company in 1982 due to ill health and has subsequently pursued investments in high technology, entertainment, cable television, and sports. Through his investment firm Vulcan Ventures, he has acquired ownership interests in more than 60 new media, cable, and telecommunications companies.

Paul Allen was born January 21, 1953 in Seattle, Washington. His parents, Faye and Kenneth Allen were both librarians. They helped him develop a wide variety of interests, taking him and his sister, Jody, to museums, galleries, and concerts.

Allen showed an early interest in science. When he was 10, his mother hosted meetings for his grade school science club. In 1965, Allen entered the seventh grade at Seattle's Lakeside School. Three years later, Allen met an eighth-grader named Bill Gates...