Laura Rich
The Accidental Zillionaire
Demystifying Paul Allen
Wiley, 2002
What's inside?
Meet Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the quiet force behind Microsoft and so much more.
Recommendation
It was hard not to envy the late Paul Allen. A son of Oklahomans who moved to Seattle, he went to private school, met Bill Gates, helped start Microsoft and ended up with billions to invest, enjoy and give away. He saw himself as an ordinary slob, but he owned major league teams, funded scientific exploration and became a leading philanthropist. Allen and his family didn’t work with the author of this 2002 biography, so nothing is straight from the horse’s mouth and much of the coverage is dated. However, despite her gossipy tone, author Laura Rich provides a useful look at Allen’s early post-Microsoft career. The book is easy enough to read, though it relies mainly on secondary sources and can drift into being repetitious. If you want a retrospective look at Paul Allen, who died at age 65 in Seattle in October, 2018, this will fit in easily among more recent takes.
Summary
About the Author
Laura Rich, a former writer for Industry Standard, Adweek and Inside Media, writes for Entertainment Weekly and the Hollywood Reporter.
Comment on this summary
Even so it was an interesting insides.
Now I have a much clear impression about Microsoft's cofounder.