Almanac of American Wealth

Wealthy eccentrics

Sometimes the rich are a little different.
Paul Allen (1953-present)
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Paul Allen (1953-present)
Allen is the co-founder of Microsoft, which he left in 1983 for health reasons. One of the richest people in the world (a net worth of $20 billion, give or take a few billion), he combines imaginative philanthropy, particularly in the state of Washington, with the energetic pursuit of his own interests.

Allen owns two sports teams (the NFL Seahawks and the NBA Trail Blazers); is a major backer of the Allen Telescope Array, which is searching for extra-terrestrial intelligence; and a science fiction museum (home to Captain Kirk's chair), which is inside the Frank Gehry-designed Experience Music Project in Seattle. He collects vintage military planes and is the money behind SpaceShipOne, a piloted vehicle that is designed to send civilians into space. His biggest yacht, the Octopus, is more than 400 feet long.

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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2013 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .