Idea Man

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Department of Management public discussion

Paul Allen, best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, has left his mark on numerous fields, from aviation and science to rock 'n' roll, professional sports, and philanthropy. His passions and curiosity have transformed the way we live. In 2007 and again in 2008, Time named him one of the hundred most influential people in the world. To celebrate the publication of his candid and long-awaited memoir Idea Man, Paul Allen comes to the London School of Economics and Political Science to discuss his life of adventure and discovery, from one of the most influential partnerships of the digital era (Microsoft) to the first privately funded spacecraft (SpaceShipOne) to a landmark breakthrough in neuroscience (the Allen Brain Atlas).

Paul Allen is the billionaire technologist and philanthropist who started Microsoft with Bill Gates. He is founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., the company that oversees his business and philanthropic activities.

Allen started Microsoft with Gates, a childhood friend, in Albuquerque in 1975. He was the company's chief technologist until he left in 1983. Since then, Allen has become one of the nation's leading philanthropists and continues the search for knowledge that led to the creation of Microsoft. Allen's multibillion dollar investment portfolio includes a major real estate redevelopment in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood and holdings in dozens of technology, media and other companies. He also owns the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, and is part of the primary ownership group for the Seattle Sounders FC, the city's Major League Soccer team.

In 2004 Allen funded SpaceShipOne, the first privately-backed effort to successfully put a civilian in suborbital space, winning him and designer Burt Rutan the Ansari X-Prize.
His independent film company, Vulcan Productions, has won numerous awards for feature films and documentaries, including the Emmy-award winning Rx for Survival - A Global Health Challenge; and the Peabody award-winning Judgment Day: Intelligent Design.

With lifetime giving of more than $1 billion, Allen has also pledged to leave a majority of his estate to philanthropy. He gives back to the community through the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, whose goal is to transform individual lives and strengthen communities by supporting arts and culture, youth engagement, community development and social change, and scientific and technological innovation.
In 2003, the Allen Institute for Brain Science was created with a $100 million commitment from Allen. The Seattle-based Institute is an independent, nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to accelerating our understanding of how the brain works. The Institute takes on projects at the leading edge of science—far-reaching projects at the intersection of biology and technology. The resulting data is available, for free, to researchers worldwide.

Allen is also founder of Experience Music Project, Seattle's critically-acclaimed interactive music museum; the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame; and the Flying Heritage Collection, an assemblage of rare World War II aircraft restored to flying condition and shared with the public.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #lseideaman

Register to tell a friend about this lecture.

Comments

If you would like to comment about this lecture, please register here.

©2003-2006 Niminim Limited. Created by

Any ad revenue is entirely reinvested into the Lecture List's operating fund