微
软公司联合创始人保罗•艾伦（Paul Allen）新出版的回忆录揭示，在微软公司成立初期，艾伦治疗癌症期间，比尔•盖茨（Bill Gates）曾处心积虑地想从艾伦手中夺取微软公司的股份。
Doug Wilson/Corbis
图集：盖茨与艾伦一同走过的岁月
本书重新审视了微软发展历史上的一些细节，以及盖茨和前任合伙人之间的关系。一直以来外界就认为这两人即使不算至交也是非常亲密的朋友。据认识盖茨和艾伦的知情人士透露，本书在两人间制造了裂痕。在回忆录的致谢章节，艾伦感谢盖茨和其他17位朋友给予的“总体和物力上的协助”。
艾伦的发言人大卫•波茨曼（David Postman）说，本书对两人关系的描述非常地平衡。他又说很显然艾伦非常重视盖茨的想法、精力和对公司的投入。
盖茨在一份书面声明中说，虽然我对许多事件的回忆可能与艾伦不同，但我珍视和他的友谊，以及他对科技界和微软做出的重要贡献。
艾伦在书中对盖茨直言不讳的描述已经在那些早期曾在微软工作过的人结成的小圈子里引起了波澜。好几位认识盖茨和艾伦的人私底下都对艾伦批评曾经的商业伙伴的动机表达了困惑，并质疑艾伦对某些事件的解释的准确性。比如在书中艾伦说自己曾参加了某些会议，但熟悉情况的人说艾伦从未参加过那些会议。再比如艾伦说为了争取一位可能成为微软最重要程序员的计算机专家，他曾造访加州的帕洛阿尔托（Palo Alto）。但知情人士说去的人是盖茨。波茨曼说他对书中的任何错误都不知情。
Getty Images 2, Corbis, Associated Press
由于盖茨领导有方，艾伦从微软的成功中获益颇丰，成为了全球最富有的一个人。他的大多数财富是在他离开微软以后的几年中建立起来的。
1981年，卡尔•斯托克（Carl Stork）到微软担任盖茨的技术助理，在公司一干就是二十年。他说，“我觉得很惊讶，保罗竟然会觉得，对他所获得的微软股份表示不满会有助于他的名声。以前我们都当保罗是朋友，也很看重他对公司的贡献，不过，毫无疑问，比尔对微软的增长和成功所起的作用要比保罗大得多。”
上世纪八十年代初，艾伦离开了微软公司，只保留了一个高管职位。这本书用大量篇幅讲述了他在此之后的慈善义举和创业努力。他早年取得的微软公司权益不光衍生出了名列世界前茅的一笔巨额财富──他在《福布斯》杂志（Forbes）的富豪榜上排名第57，身家据估计达130亿美元──还为他此后的一切活动提供了资金，不管是收购几支职业运动队，还是成功研发一艘可回收利用的太空船并凭此获奖。
纵观科技产业的全部历史，那些取得成功的公司往往会拥有一个贡献尤其突出的联合创始人。盖茨、苹果公司（Apple Inc.）的斯蒂夫•乔布斯（Steve Jobs）和Facebook公司的马克•扎克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg）都在公司真正腾飞之前送走了自己的联合创始人。另一方面，哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）教授大卫•尤菲（David Yoffie）指出，早期伙伴关系的重要意义同样不容忽视。
尤菲提到了艾伦鼓励盖茨退学创办微软公司的事情，他说，“要我看，如果没有保罗的话，比尔还不一定会从哈佛辍学呢。我也不知道，要是缺了沃兹尼亚克（Wozniak）这个帮手，斯蒂夫•乔布斯还能不能把苹果公司办起来。”
现年58岁的艾伦离开微软之后的这些年中，同事们普遍认为他和盖茨关系不错。就连艾伦自己都说，两年前，他因罹患非霍奇金淋巴瘤而接受了化疗，康复期间，盖茨是他“来得最勤的访客”之一。这都不算，他还说盖茨“充满关爱，具备一个好朋友的所有特质”。
尽管如此，艾伦还是在书中透露，他离开微软的主要原因是他对盖茨的行为越来越不满意。按照艾伦的描述，盖茨是一个好斗的工头，跟态度温和的他格格不入。以往那些微软发展史当中的说法则是，艾伦之所以会在1982年选择离开公司，是因为他被诊断出了霍奇金氏病，第一次感受到了癌症的威胁。
艾伦说，就在那一年，他无意之中听到了盖茨和微软公司现任CEO斯蒂夫•鲍尔默（Steve Ballmer）之间的一次谈话。盖茨和鲍尔默的谈话发生在华盛顿州贝尔维（Bellevue）的微软公司办公室，说的是艾伦最近效率很低，他们应该给自己和其他股东派发一些认股权，以便摊薄艾伦所持有的公司股份。这时候，正在被他俩念叨的艾伦冲进房间，跟他俩发生了正面冲突。后来，两个人都向艾伦道了歉，并且放弃了原来的计划。
艾伦在书中写道，“我帮着他们办起了公司，这时也仍然是公司管理层的一个活跃成员，只不过受了疾病的影响而已。现在倒好，一个是我的合伙人，一个是我的同事，两个人竟然想合谋把我除掉。没什么好说的，这就是一种唯利是图的投机行为。”微软公司的一名发言人说，鲍尔默对此无可奉告。
不过，按照艾伦的说法，盖茨之前就尝试过削减他在微软公司的股权比例，而且取得了成功。艾伦说，上世纪七十年代中期，辍了学的两个人还在新墨西哥州打拼的时候，盖茨就要求得到合伙公司60%的股份，理由是他在编制软件的过程中功劳更大。那时候，他们是在为早期的MITS Altair 8800电脑编制软件，用的是BASIC编程语言。
艾伦说，他本来以为公司的股份应该一人一半，但还是答应了盖茨的要求。
七年之后，盖茨和艾伦创办了微软公司，建立了正式的合伙关系。当时，盖茨要求把两人的股份比例分别调整为64%和36%，艾伦再一次答应了他的要求。按照艾伦的记述，八十年代初，艾伦成功地开发了一款名为SoftCard的微软产品，于是要求增加自己的持股比例，盖茨却拒绝了艾伦的要求。
盖茨的回答让艾伦非常失望，因为他上十年级的时候就已经认识了上八年级的盖茨，他俩当时都在西雅图一所知名的私立学校就读。
艾伦写道，“那一刻，我的心一下子凉透了。我本来以为我俩的伙伴关系建立在平等的基础之上，现在却发现，比尔把他自己的利益看得比什么都重要。我的搭档打算抢夺尽可能多的份额，抢到之后就再也不会放手，这我可接受不了。”
按照书中的记述，艾伦当时没有再说什么，只是在心里嘀咕，“好吧……可我总有一天会离开这里。”
熟悉这对搭档的人说，盖茨之所以屡次尝试削减艾伦的持股比例，是因为他觉得艾伦工作不够努力，对公司的事业也不够忠诚。这些人还说，就是由于这个原因，盖茨才在两人的第一份合伙协议中加了一个条款，由此就有权在两人之间出现“不可调和的矛盾”的情况下买下艾伦的全部股份。
艾伦的书中也提到了这份协议，但没提及盖茨在协议中增加上述条款的事情。
微软公司越来越大，像盖茨这样一门心思想把公司做大的公司成员也越来越多。他们都愿意没日没夜地工作，愿意睡在办公室里，还愿意为公司的战略和技术决定相互争吵。按照这些人的说法，此时的艾伦越来越厌倦这样的生活，总是拖在其他团队成员的后面。就这样，他渐渐地丧失了在公司待下去的兴趣。艾伦则在自己的书里说，与盖茨的争执让他心力交瘁。他如是写道，“低落的情绪榨干了我对工作的热情，反过来又为盖茨的下一次攻击提供了口实。”他同时指出，盖茨也曾经做过一些努力，想让他留在公司里。
离开微软之后的几十年里，艾伦一直在用自己的财富为自己铺设一条多少有点儿怪异的人生道路。他在生意上的许多投资不是血本无归，就是收益微薄，诸如Charter Communications有线电视公司、Asymetrix软体公司和机上盒制造商Digeo公司之类的尝试都以失败告终。
艾伦还在书中讲到了其他的一些投资尝试，比如购买NBA的波特兰开拓者队（Portland Trailblazers）和美国橄榄球联盟（NFL）的西雅图海鹰队（Seattle Seahawks）。他投资创建了由建筑师弗兰克•盖瑞（Frank Gehry）设计的西雅图摇滚博物馆和科幻博物馆，还在2003年捐资1亿美元建立了非营利的艾伦脑科学研究所（Allen Institute for Brain Science），旨在探索大脑的运作机制。
早在艾伦通过微软致富之前，熟悉他的人就已经注意到，他的兴趣似乎不只是经营软件生意。上世纪七十年代，大卫•邦内尔（David Bunnell）曾经就职于新墨西哥的微仪系统家用电子公司（更广为人知的是公司名字的缩写MITS），与艾伦和盖茨一起工作。他说，艾伦对音乐和文化的兴趣要比盖茨大。
邦内尔说，“从一个更为宽泛的角度来说，他对这个世界更感兴趣。我觉得，跟他比起来，比尔有点儿一根筋。”
Nick Wingfield/Robert A. Guth
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Bill Gates schemed to take shares in Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) from his co-founder during the early days of the software company following his partner's treatment for cancer, according to a new memoir by the billionaire co-founder, Paul Allen.
The allegation is part of a critical portrait in the book of Mr. Gates, with whom Mr. Allen formed a friendship in grade-school that evolved into one of the iconic partnerships of American business. The book, 'Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft,' is scheduled to go on sale on April 17. A draft of the memoir was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. An excerpt of the book appeared on Vanity Fair's Web site early Wednesday.
The book gives a revisionist take on some details of Microsoft's history and the relationship between Mr. Gates and his former partner, the two of whom have long been viewed as cordial if not close friends. The book has created a rift between Mr. Gates and Mr. Allen, say people who know both men. In the book's acknowledgements section, Mr. Allen thanks Mr. Gates along with 17 other people for 'general and logistical assistance.'
The book is 'a very balanced portrayal of their relationship,' said David Postman, a spokesman for Mr. Allen. 'Paul clearly values the input and the ideas and energy of Bill Gates.'
'While my recollection of many of these events may differ from Paul's, I value his friendship and the important contributions he made to the world of technology and at Microsoft,' Mr. Gates said in a written statement.
Mr. Allen's unflattering account of Mr. Gates in the book is already making waves within the tight circle of early Microsoft alumni, with several people who know both men privately expressing confusion about Mr. Allen's motivations for criticizing his old business partner and questioning the accuracy of Mr. Allen's interpretation of certain events. Mr. Allen, for instance, puts himself in meetings that people familiar with the meetings say he never attended. In one case, Mr. Allen visits Palo Alto, Calif. to help woo a computer scientist who would later become one of the Microsoft's most important programmers. People familiar with the meeting said it was Mr. Gates who made the visit. Mr. Postman said that he isn't aware of any errors in the book.
Mr. Allen in the book also positions himself as the spark of many of Microsoft's most important ideas, downplaying Mr. Gates's role in some cases. Woven throughout the book is a bitterness Mr. Allen expresses for not receiving more credit for his work throughout his career and more shares in Microsoft.
Mr. Allen became one of the world's richest people from the success of Microsoft under Mr. Gates' leadership, with the vast majority of his wealth created in the years after he left the company.
'I am surprised that Paul would have felt that it helps his legacy to express dissatisfaction with the share of Microsoft he received,' says Carl Stork, who joined Microsoft in 1981 as a technical assistant to Mr. Gates and worked there for two decades. 'While all of us considered Paul a friend and valued his contribution, there is no question that Bill had a far larger impact on the growth and success of Microsoft than did Paul.'
Much of the book focuses on the philanthropic and entrepreneurial efforts of Mr. Allen since he left Microsoft as an officer in the early 1980s. His early stake in the company created one of the world's greatest fortunes - he ranks 57th on the Forbes magazine list of billionaires, with an estimated $13 billion fortune - and funded everything from his acquisition of multiple professional sports teams to a successful quest to win a prize for building a reusable spacecraft.
Throughout the history of the technology industry, one co-founder often plays an outsized role in the success of their companies. Mr. Gates, Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs and Facebook Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg all saw their co-founders leave before their companies truly took off. Yet the importance of those early partnerships can't be overlooked, says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School.
'I'm not sure Bill would ever have dropped out of Harvard if it wasn't for Paul,' Mr. Yoffie said, referring to Mr. Allen's role in encouraging Mr. Gates to leave college to start Microsoft. 'I don't know whether Steve Jobs, without Wozniak, would have ever gotten things together.'
Messrs. Gates and Allen were widely thought by associates to have a warm relationship in the years since Mr. Allen, 58 years old, left Microsoft. Even Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates was one of his 'most regular visitors' when Mr. Allen was recovering from chemotherapy two years ago from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, describing him as 'everything you'd want from a friend, caring and concerned.'
Yet, in the book, Mr. Allen also reveals that his decision to leave Microsoft was prompted largely by his growing disenchantment with the behavior of Mr. Gates, whom he portrays as a confrontational taskmaster who clashed with Mr. Allen's low-key style. Past histories of Microsoft have said Mr. Allen's departure from the company was sparked by his first brush with cancer in 1982, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
In that year, Mr. Allen says he eavesdropped on a discussion in the Microsoft offices in Bellevue, Wash., between Mr. Gates and Steve Ballmer, now the company's CEO, in which he heard the two men talking about Mr. Allen's recent lack of productivity and how they might dilute his equity in the company by issuing options to themselves and other shareholders. Mr. Allen said burst into the room and confronted Messrs. Gates and Ballmer, both of whom later apologized to him and backed down from their plan.
'I had helped start the company and was still an active member of management, though limited by my illness, and now my partner and my colleague were scheming to rip me off,' he says in the book. 'It was mercenary opportunism, plain and simple.' A spokesman for Microsoft said Mr. Ballmer had no comment.
Earlier efforts by Mr. Gates to whittle down his partner's stake in Microsoft were successful though, according to Mr. Allen. In the mid-1970s, when the two college drop-outs were based in New Mexico, Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates asked for 60% of their partnership because of his greater contributions to the creation of software for running the BASIC programming language on an early PC, the MITS Altair 8800.
Mr. Allen says he had assumed that their partnership was evenly split, but he agreed to Mr. Gates' request.
Several years later when Messrs. Gates and Allen established Microsoft as a formal partnership, Mr. Gates asked to change their respective shares in the business to a 64-36 split, a demand to which Mr. Allen again agreed. But in the early 1980s Mr. Gates rebuffed Mr. Allen after the latter man asked for an increase in his own Microsoft shares after his work on a successful Microsoft product called SoftCard, Mr. Allen writes.
Mr. Allen was deeply disappointed in the response from Mr. Gates, whom he had known since Mr. Allen was a tenth grader and Mr. Gates was an eighth grader at a prestigious private school in Seattle.
'In that moment, something died for me,' Mr. Allen writes. 'I'd thought that our partnership was based on fairness, but now I saw that Bill's self-interest overrode all other considerations. My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold on to it, and that was something I could not accept.'
Mr. Allen said he sucked it up and thought, 'OK...but one day I'm out of here,' the book says.
Mr. Gates's attempts to lower Mr. Allen's stake in the company reflected concerns with Mr. Allen wasn't working hard enough and wasn't commitment to the company, say people familiar with the relationship. That was one reason, these people say, that Mr. Gates put a provision in their first partnership agreement that would allow him to buy out Mr. Allen if he thought there were 'irreconcilable differences' between the two men.
Mr. Allen mentions the agreement in the book, without saying why Mr. Gates inserted the clause.
As Microsoft grew, it attracted more people like Mr. Gates who were single-mindedly focused on building Microsoft. They were willing to work around the clock, sleep in the office and battle each other over strategy and technical decisions. Mr. Allen, these people say, grew increasingly tired of that life and lagged the rest of group, they said. He gradually lost interest in remaining at the company. In the book, Mr. Allen says that fights with Mr. Gates took a toll on him. 'My sinking morale sapped my enthusiasm for my work, which in turn could precipitate Bill's next attack,' he wrote. He noted that Mr. Gates tried to keep him at the company.
Mr. Allen has spent the decades since his departure from Microsoft using his wealth to carve a somewhat whimsical path for himself. Many of his business investments, like the cable company Charter Communications, software company Asymetrix Corp. and set-top box maker Digeo Inc., have either flopped or fared poorly for him.
Mr. Allen devotes portions of his book to investments like the Portland Trailblazers NBA franchise and the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. He finance the creation of rock n' roll and science fiction museums in Seattle designed by architect Frank Gehry, while he invested $100 million in 2003 to form a non-profit called the Allen Institute for Brain Science to study how brains work.
Even before Microsoft made him wealthy, it appeared to people who knew him that Mr. Allen had broader interests than running a software business. David Bunnell, who worked in New Mexico in the 1970s with Messrs. Allen and Gates at the pioneering PC maker Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, better known as MITS, said Mr. Allen was more passionate about music and culture than his business partner.
'He was more interested, in a broader sense, in the world,' Mr. Bunnell says. 'I think Bill is more single-minded.' -By Nick Wingfield and Robert A. Guth
Nick Wingfield/Robert A. Guth
本文涉及股票或公司
The allegation is part of a critical portrait in the book of Mr. Gates, with whom Mr. Allen formed a friendship in grade-school that evolved into one of the iconic partnerships of American business. The book, 'Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft,' is scheduled to go on sale on April 17. A draft of the memoir was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. An excerpt of the book appeared on Vanity Fair's Web site early Wednesday.
The book gives a revisionist take on some details of Microsoft's history and the relationship between Mr. Gates and his former partner, the two of whom have long been viewed as cordial if not close friends. The book has created a rift between Mr. Gates and Mr. Allen, say people who know both men. In the book's acknowledgements section, Mr. Allen thanks Mr. Gates along with 17 other people for 'general and logistical assistance.'
The book is 'a very balanced portrayal of their relationship,' said David Postman, a spokesman for Mr. Allen. 'Paul clearly values the input and the ideas and energy of Bill Gates.'
'While my recollection of many of these events may differ from Paul's, I value his friendship and the important contributions he made to the world of technology and at Microsoft,' Mr. Gates said in a written statement.
Mr. Allen's unflattering account of Mr. Gates in the book is already making waves within the tight circle of early Microsoft alumni, with several people who know both men privately expressing confusion about Mr. Allen's motivations for criticizing his old business partner and questioning the accuracy of Mr. Allen's interpretation of certain events. Mr. Allen, for instance, puts himself in meetings that people familiar with the meetings say he never attended. In one case, Mr. Allen visits Palo Alto, Calif. to help woo a computer scientist who would later become one of the Microsoft's most important programmers. People familiar with the meeting said it was Mr. Gates who made the visit. Mr. Postman said that he isn't aware of any errors in the book.
Mr. Allen in the book also positions himself as the spark of many of Microsoft's most important ideas, downplaying Mr. Gates's role in some cases. Woven throughout the book is a bitterness Mr. Allen expresses for not receiving more credit for his work throughout his career and more shares in Microsoft.
Mr. Allen became one of the world's richest people from the success of Microsoft under Mr. Gates' leadership, with the vast majority of his wealth created in the years after he left the company.
'I am surprised that Paul would have felt that it helps his legacy to express dissatisfaction with the share of Microsoft he received,' says Carl Stork, who joined Microsoft in 1981 as a technical assistant to Mr. Gates and worked there for two decades. 'While all of us considered Paul a friend and valued his contribution, there is no question that Bill had a far larger impact on the growth and success of Microsoft than did Paul.'
Much of the book focuses on the philanthropic and entrepreneurial efforts of Mr. Allen since he left Microsoft as an officer in the early 1980s. His early stake in the company created one of the world's greatest fortunes - he ranks 57th on the Forbes magazine list of billionaires, with an estimated $13 billion fortune - and funded everything from his acquisition of multiple professional sports teams to a successful quest to win a prize for building a reusable spacecraft.
Throughout the history of the technology industry, one co-founder often plays an outsized role in the success of their companies. Mr. Gates, Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs and Facebook Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg all saw their co-founders leave before their companies truly took off. Yet the importance of those early partnerships can't be overlooked, says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School.
'I'm not sure Bill would ever have dropped out of Harvard if it wasn't for Paul,' Mr. Yoffie said, referring to Mr. Allen's role in encouraging Mr. Gates to leave college to start Microsoft. 'I don't know whether Steve Jobs, without Wozniak, would have ever gotten things together.'
Messrs. Gates and Allen were widely thought by associates to have a warm relationship in the years since Mr. Allen, 58 years old, left Microsoft. Even Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates was one of his 'most regular visitors' when Mr. Allen was recovering from chemotherapy two years ago from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, describing him as 'everything you'd want from a friend, caring and concerned.'
Yet, in the book, Mr. Allen also reveals that his decision to leave Microsoft was prompted largely by his growing disenchantment with the behavior of Mr. Gates, whom he portrays as a confrontational taskmaster who clashed with Mr. Allen's low-key style. Past histories of Microsoft have said Mr. Allen's departure from the company was sparked by his first brush with cancer in 1982, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
In that year, Mr. Allen says he eavesdropped on a discussion in the Microsoft offices in Bellevue, Wash., between Mr. Gates and Steve Ballmer, now the company's CEO, in which he heard the two men talking about Mr. Allen's recent lack of productivity and how they might dilute his equity in the company by issuing options to themselves and other shareholders. Mr. Allen said burst into the room and confronted Messrs. Gates and Ballmer, both of whom later apologized to him and backed down from their plan.
'I had helped start the company and was still an active member of management, though limited by my illness, and now my partner and my colleague were scheming to rip me off,' he says in the book. 'It was mercenary opportunism, plain and simple.' A spokesman for Microsoft said Mr. Ballmer had no comment.
Earlier efforts by Mr. Gates to whittle down his partner's stake in Microsoft were successful though, according to Mr. Allen. In the mid-1970s, when the two college drop-outs were based in New Mexico, Mr. Allen says Mr. Gates asked for 60% of their partnership because of his greater contributions to the creation of software for running the BASIC programming language on an early PC, the MITS Altair 8800.
Mr. Allen says he had assumed that their partnership was evenly split, but he agreed to Mr. Gates' request.
Several years later when Messrs. Gates and Allen established Microsoft as a formal partnership, Mr. Gates asked to change their respective shares in the business to a 64-36 split, a demand to which Mr. Allen again agreed. But in the early 1980s Mr. Gates rebuffed Mr. Allen after the latter man asked for an increase in his own Microsoft shares after his work on a successful Microsoft product called SoftCard, Mr. Allen writes.
Mr. Allen was deeply disappointed in the response from Mr. Gates, whom he had known since Mr. Allen was a tenth grader and Mr. Gates was an eighth grader at a prestigious private school in Seattle.
'In that moment, something died for me,' Mr. Allen writes. 'I'd thought that our partnership was based on fairness, but now I saw that Bill's self-interest overrode all other considerations. My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold on to it, and that was something I could not accept.'
Mr. Allen said he sucked it up and thought, 'OK...but one day I'm out of here,' the book says.
Mr. Gates's attempts to lower Mr. Allen's stake in the company reflected concerns with Mr. Allen wasn't working hard enough and wasn't commitment to the company, say people familiar with the relationship. That was one reason, these people say, that Mr. Gates put a provision in their first partnership agreement that would allow him to buy out Mr. Allen if he thought there were 'irreconcilable differences' between the two men.
Mr. Allen mentions the agreement in the book, without saying why Mr. Gates inserted the clause.
As Microsoft grew, it attracted more people like Mr. Gates who were single-mindedly focused on building Microsoft. They were willing to work around the clock, sleep in the office and battle each other over strategy and technical decisions. Mr. Allen, these people say, grew increasingly tired of that life and lagged the rest of group, they said. He gradually lost interest in remaining at the company. In the book, Mr. Allen says that fights with Mr. Gates took a toll on him. 'My sinking morale sapped my enthusiasm for my work, which in turn could precipitate Bill's next attack,' he wrote. He noted that Mr. Gates tried to keep him at the company.
Mr. Allen has spent the decades since his departure from Microsoft using his wealth to carve a somewhat whimsical path for himself. Many of his business investments, like the cable company Charter Communications, software company Asymetrix Corp. and set-top box maker Digeo Inc., have either flopped or fared poorly for him.
Mr. Allen devotes portions of his book to investments like the Portland Trailblazers NBA franchise and the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. He finance the creation of rock n' roll and science fiction museums in Seattle designed by architect Frank Gehry, while he invested $100 million in 2003 to form a non-profit called the Allen Institute for Brain Science to study how brains work.
Even before Microsoft made him wealthy, it appeared to people who knew him that Mr. Allen had broader interests than running a software business. David Bunnell, who worked in New Mexico in the 1970s with Messrs. Allen and Gates at the pioneering PC maker Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, better known as MITS, said Mr. Allen was more passionate about music and culture than his business partner.
'He was more interested, in a broader sense, in the world,' Mr. Bunnell says. 'I think Bill is more single-minded.' -By Nick Wingfield and Robert A. Guth
Nick Wingfield/Robert A. Guth
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