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Paul Allen's Big Posthumous Charity Plans

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates back in 1975, is apparently planning to give most of his wealth to charity after he dies. That wealth reportedly totals $13.5 billion, which will buy a lot of non-profit scientific research.

"Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime," Allen wrote in a statement, reprinted by Reuters on July 15. "I've planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of [the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation] and to fund nonprofit scientific research."

Allen has also "successfully completed a course of chemotherapy and currently has no medical issues," according to a spokesperson paraphrased in the Reuters report. Back in November 2009, Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, or the network of lymph nodes that help provide the body with immunity against disease; according to WebMD, around 49 out of every 100 patents diagnosed with the disease are alive after a decade, which puts Allen on the track towards being one of the lucky ones.

Of course, Allen can count himself as a lucky one already; in 1983, he was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, for which he underwent a successful round of treatment. That same year, Allen resigned from his position as a Microsoft executive.

Allen and Gates co-founded Microsoft after seeing an article in Popular Electrics about the MITS Altair 8800, and decided to develop a programming language, Altair BASIC, that would run on it. Microsoft's Website calls Altair BASIC "the first computer language program written for a personal computer."

Allen owns the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers; in addition to those sports teams, he has investments in a number of areas. He's also a big fan of yachts.



 

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