Paul Allen and Bill Gates in 2013, recreating their classic 1981 photo: pic.twitter.com/zzvmlLxDho
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) October 15, 2018
Today the world lost Paul Allen, the great billionaire co-founder of Microsoft. He was seeking treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer he beat nine years ago. He was childhood friends with Bill Gates and, together, their love for technology set their lives on a trajectory to build one of the biggest and most influential tech companies of our era.
Paul was a truly wonderful, bright and inspiring person—- and a great friend. I will miss him https://t.co/HYhtgZGo8C
— Steve Ballmer (@Steven_Ballmer) October 15, 2018
Maybe it’s just me, but you ever ask yourself what kind of life you’d live if you had all the money in the world? Paul Allen mastered living beyond his wildest dreams, using his wealth to explore a multitude of passions and causes. He wasn’t just a true titan of American business; he mastered being a rich guy in a way that looked really, really, really fucking fun. He owned the Seahawks and the Portland Trailblazers. He was oddly obsessed with shipwrecks.
In 1995, Paul Allen licensed the ESPN name for his sports site on the Internet. He was so far ahead that there were few who could see its value. In 1998, Allen agreed to sell his company back to ESPN on generous terms. Here are the original mockups of what became ESPN’s website. pic.twitter.com/XvnSSEfZll
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 15, 2018
I’ll let others focus on his contribution to modern sports culture. I’m consistently fascinated by what Allen accomplished in the music world. He was an avid guitar player, creating a studio session band called Paul Allen & The Underthinkers. They recorded an album in 2013 and it’s stacked with great American jam talent: Ivan Neville, Derek Trucks, and Joe Walsh, along with Paul’s smokey blues riffs.
The great American record producer Quincy Jones once said that Allen was, himself, Jimi Hendrix reincarnated:
In light of Paul Allen’s death, let’s take some time to remember that Quincy Jones interview where he said Allen was the second coming of Jimi Hendrix. pic.twitter.com/Vo0PviA4Yz
— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) October 15, 2018
Paul Allen could SHRED and did some publiclly on almost every occasion he could. Listen to him rip on Jimi Hendrix’s “Hear My Train a Comin’” at Sky Church in Seattle six years ago:
The most amazing thing is that he RIPPED in a suit and collared shirt almost every single time he took the stage. That’s James Brown-levels of commitment to the wardrobe game:
And this one is my favorite: Paul Allen taking the stage with Derek Trucks in Jersey City after the Seahawks beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. Dude just won the biggest title in sports and took the stage to shred it up in celebration.
Rest easy, Paul. Jam hard up there.
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