Editor’s Note: Investing for Impact

Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1982 after finding
himself increasingly in conflict with Bill Gates, with whom he had founded the company, and after a change in outlook brought about by a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma. As he wrote in his memoir, Idea Man, I wanted to enjoy life. He began traveling, learned to scuba dive, fished with his father and played guitar more frequently.

Allen also applied his understanding of technology trends he predicted an iPhone-like device way back in 1977 to investing in a broad range of sectors from high tech to cable TV.

Those investments have reaped mixed results. Allen was like a kid in an arcade who has enough quarters to play games forever, a top executive at one of Allens far-flung companies told me in 1985. Some [companies] will fail, some will succeed. But where is the scorecard? As long as he can underwrite it and it gives him pleasure, whats the problem?

Many believed Allen overpaid when he invested $500 million for a small fraction of DreamWorks, a movie studio launched by three Hollywood heavyweights, including Steven Spielberg, but Allen didnt seem to mind. At some point, there is so much money. What do you do with it all? he said at the time. The kinds of things you are going to look at are deals like DreamWorks, where you can get involved with other people to do exciting, new, creative things.

Allen still invests in technology and he still likes to rub shoulders with the glitterati. But, fortunately for our community, he is also investing deeply here in the Northwest. Those investments have brought impressive returns for Allen and the region.

Allen bought the Seattle Seahawks, helped build a stadium and developed a winning team that has done more to create a sense of community than anything else in our recent sporting history. He helped to shore up the University of Washington and Washington State University with tens of millions of dollars in grants at a time when the Legislature was cutting funding. He established the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the EMP Museum, and renovated Seattles historic Cinerama Theatre.

In 1992, he lent $20 million for a project to build a big park in South Lake Union. When voters rejected the idea, his company, Vulcan Real Estate, bought up 60 acres of land in the area and launched one of the nations biggest urban redevelopment projects. The companys vision for a pedestrian friendly, high-tech business center with a streetcar running through it helped to reinvigorate a struggling downtown.

In spite of himself, Allen has made money. He sold a group of buildings in South Lake Union to Amazon recently for $1.16 billion. The Seahawks are worth another billion. In spite of all the money he has given away, he is still worth $16 billion.