Many business ideas today may seem like they only have one side, but an army of people work behind them. Among these people we know leaders. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk are some of these leaders. Undoubtedly, Bill Gates is one of the most striking leaders of yesterday and today. Operating systems that come with interfaces have reached a huge market. Bill Gates certainly didn’t do these things alone. At first, he was accompanied by his partner, Paul Allen, and his later divorced wife, Melinda Ann French.
Paul Gardner Allen, with whom Gates co-founded Microsoft, was overshadowed for a long time and died in 2018. Before his death, he collected his memories in a book. Allen, who left Microsoft in his early 30s, is childhood friend of Gates from Seattle. He describes those days as follows: “Bill and I both became very good software developers. We were both fanatically passionate about learning something new.”
‘It’s enough to be 35 people’
The duo began to consider the idea of starting a software company. By his early calculations, a company of 35 would have been of sufficient size. Paul Allen resigned in February 1983, nine years after the idea of starting a company began to circulate. At that time, 500 people were working at Microsoft. When Microsoft was founded, Allen was 22 and Gates was 19.
Paul Allen founded the Allen Institute for Brain Sciences with his sister. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsAccording to Allen, he is the originator of Microsoft. In fact, the name of the book in which he wrote his memoirs is Idea Man. Due to some disturbances in Microsoft’s partnership structure, Allen bought his shares and left. He says he can get a better deal but doesn’t push his hand too hard.
According to Allen’s memories, Bill Gates is someone who doesn’t like to lose. Even when playing chess, his eyes get angry when he is defeated. In addition, he is not afraid to spoil his mouth at work. Gates’ initial proposal was to split Microsoft 60 to 40 percent, but later the jobs company came to a point of splitting 64 to 36 percent.Uncomfortable with this share of Allen, Gates often complained to the former CEO of the company, Steve Ballmer.
Stating that he struggled with cancer during his shaky period at the company, Allen says, “This showed me his true character.” Still, he adds that they meet occasionally. “A lot of water has flowed under the bridge,” he says.
Paul Allen is devoted to great hobbies
After Allen left Microsoft, he devoted himself to the hobbies of great men. He became a partner in a basketball team, an American football team, and bought Jimi Hendrix’s guitar. He became friends with Mick Jagger and Bono. He built a 126-metre yacht called Octopus. It has employed over 50 full-time staff in it.
Paul Allen spent the last years of his life fighting cancer. He was interested in scientific research on how the brain works. Participated in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s fundraising events. After his death, he agreed to donate half of his wealth. Gates visited Allen several times while he was resting after chemotherapy. On October 15, 2018, Allen died of blood cancer.
Famous musicians Mick Jagger and Bono were close friends of Paul Allen and Allen was deeply interested in music. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsThose who know immediately understand the character differences between the two. The son of business parents, Gates was toothsome and enjoyed discussing matters aloud. Paul Allen, on the other hand, was the son of a librarian, accustomed to always handling matters in a low-key manner.
When they founded their company called Micro-Soft, microprocessors had been out a few years ago, and all computers were just letters on green digital screens. Many companies focused on producing computers that took up less space with more powerful hardware.
When Allen left the company, Micro-Soft had released the operating system Windows, but Word was shortly thereafter. According to his own statement, he was very interested in these two products. He explains that he was the person behind the idea of a two-button mouse.
Sources: The Guardian, Idea Man (Allen), Cryptocoin
