>
The co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen has died from cancer complications at the age of 65.
He died Monday afternoon succumbing to a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Allen ranked among the world’s wealthiest individuals. He ranked 44th on Forbes’ 2018 list of billionaires with an estimated net worth of more than $20 billion.
Earlier this month, Allen revealed that he had started treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same type of cancer he was treated for in 2009.
Allen was born in Washington State in 1953 where he attended both high school and college, before dropping out of Washington State University in the 1970s to co-found Microsoft with his high school friend, Bill Gates.
“I am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Paul Allen,” Bill Gates said in a statement. “From our early days together at Lakeside School, through our partnership in the creation of Microsoft, to some of our joint philanthropic projects over the years, Paul was a true partner and dear friend. Personal computing would not have existed without him.”
In 1983, Allen left the company he founded with Bill Gates when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, which he defeated. He recovered to become a successful venture capitalist with his media and communications investment firm, Vulcan that he set up in 1986.