Paul Allen was born on 21 January 1953 in Seattle, Washington, United States.
He was a student in Washington State University (WSU), but dropped out of college after two years.
In 1968 he met Bill Gates and in 1975 they both founded Microsoft. In March 1983, he officially resigned from Microsoft.
Allen played electric guitar and also had a band called The Underthinkers. Their debut album was called Everywhere At Once.
In 1990, at the age of 37, he became a billionaire. He ranked 22nd on the wealthiest American list with a total net worth of around $21 billion dollars in 2017, according to Forbes magazine.
He was also the owner of three professional US sports team - the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and the MLS's Seattle Sounders (a partial owner).
He never got married and has no kids.
Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma (a type of cancer) and died at the age of 65.
He was a part of many ventures such as Allen Institute for Brain Science, Allen Institute for Cell Science, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.