Talking about the founders of Microsoft, Paul Allen is often in the shadow of Bill Gates. In fact, his role at Microsoft is no less important.
Gates and Allen initially met at Lakeside Middle School in Seattle. Both of them are computer crazy, both geniuses, so they feel compatible and become close friends.
"His blonde hair is a mess. You can say 3 things about Bill Gates quickly. He's really smart. He's really competitive, he wants to show you how smart he is. And he's very, very persistent," Allen said in an interview quoted by us from the Guardian.
At the age of 13, Gates had a dream of starting his own company. When Gates entered Harvard University, Allen followed him and the two spent a lot of time designing software.
In 1972, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the first company called Traf-O-Data which analyzed traffic data. Well, a new breakthrough occurred in 1975 which became the forerunner of a company called Microsoft.
At that time, Allen showed Gates Popular Electronic magazine. The media discussed a microcomputer made by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems's (MITS), namely the Altair 8800. Allen suggested that they implement the BASIC programming language translator software in the system.
MITS also gave them the opportunity to demonstrate and as it turned out, the BASIC translator could work perfectly. MITS also agreed to distribute it under the name Altair BASIC.
Thus, the success of the project became the beginning of the birth of Microsoft on April 4, 1975. Paul Allen also gave the name Microsoft. Unfortunately, over time, the relationship between Allen and Bill Gates cracked. How's the story?
Broken Friendship
Allen and Gates were close since high school and together founded Microsoft. However, their relationship was fractured. Allen claims everything because of Gates.
The story of the breakdown of Gates and Allen's relationship is revealed in Allen's biographical book Idea Man: A Memoir. There, Allen talked a lot about his close relationship with Gates as well as how their good relationship ended.
As previously noted, Gates and Allen initially met at Lakeside High School in Seattle. In 1975 while still studying at Harvard, the two founded Microsoft which then grew tremendously. Shares were also distributed. Gates asked for more shares because he felt he was working harder.
"I'm assuming our partnership is 50-50. But Bill has other ideas," Allen wrote. Gates asked for a larger share of Microsoft stock, 64-36. Allen finally agreed because he felt Gates was very fussy and he didn't want conflict.
Unfortunately, their relationship got worse as Microsoft grew. Allen and Gates often argued for hours. Then peak, Gates recruited his friend Steve Ballmer who later became CEO of Microsoft.
Gates immediately offered Ballmer an 8.75% stake, which infuriated Allen. In addition, another misfortune came in 1982, Allen was sick with cancer and absent from work.
When he returned to Microsoft, he felt no longer considered. Not only that, Allen also heard that Gates and Ballmer wanted to reduce their share of the stock.
"Can no longer contain myself, I got angry at them and screamed. Everything is unbelievable. This shows your true character (Gates)," said Allen.
Ballmer and Gates also realized their mistake and apologized, but for Allen, their relationship was difficult to repair. So, Allen decided to leave Microsoft.
Gates tried to buy Allen's Microsoft stock for $5 per share, but Allen refused. The decision was very appropriate because Microsoft's stock price was then very high. Allen's wealth can reach more than USD 21 billion because he still owns a lot of Microsoft shares.
"I think our partnership is based on fairness, but I see Bill's personal interest overriding all other considerations. He wants to take as much as possible and that's what I can't accept," Allen said.
Gates has commented on Allen's story in his biography, where he disagrees with Allen's stories. But whatever has happened in the past, Gates is still grateful to Allen.
"While my memory of all of those events may differ from Paul's, I appreciate this friendship and the important contribution he made to the world of technology and Microsoft," Gates said.
In recent years as they grew older, their relationship began to improve. In fact, the two of them did not hesitate to meet and take pictures together again, maybe while remembering how they used to have a duet to make Microsoft victorious.
Allen died on October 15, 2018, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Gates at that time also felt deep sorrow for the loss of his best friend forever.