Semi-monthly news and updates about the homes, people, businesses and communities that are featured in Lake Washington 130 Homes. This covers the Lake Washington waterfront in Seattle’s Madison Park, Denny-Blaine and Madrona neighborhoods, Mercer Island, and The Eastside communities of Bellevue, Medina, Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.
(The above home belongs to Charles Simonyi. See 5/31/11 post.)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Paul Allen – Idea Man

Paul Allen’s Campus on Mercer Island
Please see the 12/28/10 post for the guide for viewing the $150 million, 9.6 acre campus.

Paul Allen’s new book, Idea Man, has created a lot of controversy.  Some of the local headlines are:  Paul Allen goes public with hard feelings toward Gates, Paul Allen's attempt to shape his legacy may backfire, Paul Allen says book not revenge against Gates, and Paul Allen's book: Shaping legacy with a chainsaw?

An interesting article (Seattle Times by Kristi Helm) discusses a lengthy interview with Paul at his MI campus and discusses Paul’s relationship with Bill while also describing the author’s tour of Paul’s campus.  Helm’s description of the main controversy in the book is:  “Allen accuses Gates, along with Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, of trying to cheat him out of Microsoft shares while Allen was being treated for cancer in 1982. Allen said he overheard the two conspiring to dilute his shares by issuing options to themselves and others. (Ballmer went to Allen's house later to apologize.)  ‘My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold onto it,’ Allen writes."

Most of the book is about the creation of Microsoft and the eight years Paul was with Microsoft.  The headlines are grabbing the obvious rift between Allen and the team of Gates (house guide) and Ballmer (house guide).

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