Co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen donates half his billions to charity
Instrumental in the development of the Microsoft Empire and one of the wealthiest men in the world, Paul Allen has recently pledged to give away over six billon dollars to charity (speculation has been on what types of charities these will include, and have been reported as causes varied as medical and cancer to third world countries teaching jobs). He is following in the footsteps of former richest man in the world, Bill Gates, who challenged him to see who could pull of the greater philanthropic contribution. Gates is now ranked as the 37th richest person on earth and has announced that most of his fortunes would be given to charitable causes in the future, which would see his rankings on the world rich list slide even further. He began a campaign which he nicknamed the ‘giving pledge’, urging the wealthiest individuals in America to donate fifty percent of their fortunes to philanthropic causes.
Paul Allen stood down from Microsoft 27 years ago, after being diagnosis with Hodgkin’s disease. Since recently enduring chemotherapy, he has made clear his objectives to continue his charitable causes beyond his lifetime. Most of his current estate will be given away to fund scientific research in the non-profit sector, as well as funding his family foundation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary. Allen is the owner of the US football team, Seattle Seahawks and occupies one of the world’s largest yachts, which is usually kept in Monaco. He is an avid lover of science fiction and is the owner of a chair that was occupied by the character Captain Kirk in the movie ‘Star Trek’.
Bill Gates and billionaire Warren Buffet recently held a small summit at New York University to discuss ways to push billionaires to give away more of their fortunes to those in need. For them, a million dollars is merely a ’drop in the bucket’. That same amount of money would also provide medical insurance to more than 100 uninsured Americans suffering a serious medical condition.
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