Oct 16, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 21 segments
**Listen to more of The Big Story here: **http://swap.fm/l/wi-bigstorypod-feeddrop Microsoft spawned two billionaires. Paul Allen is the other one. Written by Paulina Borsook. Originally…
We grow up hearing, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" And the corollary is, if you are that rich, you must be that smart.
People want the hugely successful to deserve their wealth.
It's not in the American grain to believe in accidental zillionaires.
But Paul Allen, the little-known billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, net worth about three point three billion dollars, number eleven on the Forbes four hundred, may be just that.
In the last year or so, Allen has been making sexy, high-profile investments in the InfoBahn multimedia digital convergence marketplace.
He's this year's, and maybe next, golden boy.
He's the object of a flurry of gee-whiz, behold our latest captain of industry media attention.
He's being touted as the high-tech investor cat to watch.
But this impression of Allen may stem more from the quantities of money he holds than from the qualities he's demonstrated as an investor.
Because Allen has so much money, he contaminates technology markets, where he tends to do much of his investing.
People in a position to understand Allen's investments either have deals with him, want to have deals with him, or are part of a deal he is also a part of.
It's natural to be drawn to glamour, and the reflected glint from all that money contributes to the myth in the making about Allen, the high-tech business seer.
In fact, Bill Savoy, one of Allen's senior managers, has a name for this phenomenon, the Paul Allen effect.
Allen invests in something, and because he invests in it, it's considered to be of value.
Recent Allen investments include America Online, Wall Street's current online darling, Metricom Incorporated, hot wireless data company, and Virtual Vision, television anywhere.
His wealth is a lucky trick of time and place, and particularly of his involvement with Bill Gates.
While Allen was co-responsible for the early creation and early technical successes of Microsoft, his tremendous wealth came later.
Gates made them both billionaires after Allen left off an active involvement with Microsoft.
Allen himself, with characteristic modesty, says he doesn't see himself as a visionary and has never promoted himself as such, though he has harbored entrepreneurial yearnings since high school.
Contrary to the myth surrounding him, Allen has not built a successful company on his own since leaving Microsoft in nineteen eighty-three.
While he has recently made some wise purchases, sources within the companies he has started claim another kind of Allen effect.
Far from being profitable, these companies are rarely required to come up with products that meet market tests of innovation and timeliness.
Scores of former and current employees in Allen's far-flung empire spoke to Wired for this story.
Most talked under the assurance that their anonymity would be protected to avoid financial loss, including remarkable severance packages.
We grow up hearing, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" And the corollary is, if you are that rich, you must be that smart.
People want the hugely successful to deserve their wealth.
It's not in the American grain to believe in accidental zillionaires.
But Paul Allen, the little-known billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, net worth about three point three billion dollars, number eleven on the Forbes four hundred, may be just that.
In the last year or so, Allen has been making sexy, high-profile investments in the InfoBahn multimedia digital convergence marketplace.
He's this year's, and maybe next, golden boy.
He's the object of a flurry of gee-whiz, behold our latest captain of industry media attention.
He's being touted as the high-tech investor cat to watch.
But this impression of Allen may stem more from the quantities of money he holds than from the qualities he's demonstrated as an investor.
Because Allen has so much money, he contaminates technology markets, where he tends to do much of his investing.
People in a position to understand Allen's investments either have deals with him, want to have deals with him, or are part of a deal he is also a part of.
It's natural to be drawn to glamour, and the reflected glint from all that money contributes to the myth in the making about Allen, the high-tech business seer.
In fact, Bill Savoy, one of Allen's senior managers, has a name for this phenomenon, the Paul Allen effect.
Allen invests in something, and because he invests in it, it's considered to be of value.
Recent Allen investments include America Online, Wall Street's current online darling, Metricom Incorporated, hot wireless data company, and Virtual Vision, television anywhere.
His wealth is a lucky trick of time and place, and particularly of his involvement with Bill Gates.
While Allen was co-responsible for the early creation and early technical successes of Microsoft, his tremendous wealth came later.
Gates made them both billionaires after Allen left off an active involvement with Microsoft.
Allen himself, with characteristic modesty, says he doesn't see himself as a visionary and has never promoted himself as such, though he has harbored entrepreneurial yearnings since high school.
Contrary to the myth surrounding him, Allen has not built a successful company on his own since leaving Microsoft in nineteen eighty-three.
While he has recently made some wise purchases, sources within the companies he has started claim another kind of Allen effect.
Far from being profitable, these companies are rarely required to come up with products that meet market tests of innovation and timeliness.
Scores of former and current employees in Allen's far-flung empire spoke to Wired for this story.
Most talked under the assurance that their anonymity would be protected to avoid financial loss, including remarkable severance packages.
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