An investor and a philanthropist

Paul G Allen, the world's richest bachelor, became an investor and philanthropist after leaving Microsoft in 1983. He has created the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and pledged $100 million in seed money for the project. Named one of the top 15 philanthropists in America, Allen gives back to the community through the six Paul G Allen Foundations.

Allen is the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, an NBA basketball team, and the Seattle Seahawks, of the National Football League. He is also one of the principal financiers behind the SETI. He is also a collector of vintage military airplanes. 

Allen runs a venture capital firm, Vulcan Ventures, and has created the Experience Music Project, a museum of music history, in Seattle, Washington.

He is also the sponsor behind the SpaceShipOne private rocket plane venture from Scaled Composites.

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An aerial view of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's new Rock Museum, which resembles a broken guitar, under construction in Seattle. Photo: Dan Callister/Newsmakers.  (Inset) The first Microsoft team: Steve Wood (left), Bob Wallace, Jim Lane. Middle row: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin. Bottom row: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen. Photo: Microsoft Web Site