Who's had a better life, Bill Gates or Paul Allen?
 

They both started the company. They are both billionaires. Paul partially cashed out so Bill is worth twice as much.

In the past 10 years Bill has kept on running the show as his prime interest. He rarely branches off into other things. His foundation is doing wonderful things but other than that he's still the M$ posterboy which makes him the unofficial leader of the free world.

Payl has branched off into whatever tickles his fancy. Museums, Sports Teams, Space Ships etc. (You can see more here )

If you had to choose which one would you trade places with?

Bill is able to give 1 dollar to the whole earth's population and still be rich

who the fuck is paul allen?

Paul Allen is one of the worlds largest sponsors of the best prostitutes money can buy. It's because of guys like him that outcall rates stay stable.

but does he?

Paul Allen is lightyears ahead of Bill Gates, in brains and interests.

Bill Gates cares about chips and nothing money, nothing else. Businessman.

Paul Allen is the scientist guy.

His millions donated so in less than 20 years we can take space flights as consumers!

to me thats more than Bill Gates does.

Paul Allen is much cooler of the two.

If not for paul allen. I wouldnt be online right now

(he owns charter, my ISP)

uhh ohh. wrong.

oh , if not Bill Gates , half of the internet wouldn't be online right now:2 cents:

i doubt it

This is true. Actually he can give away 2 or 3 dollars to everyone living and still be rich,

This is true also.

I just got done reading "Hard Drive" which is about Bill Gates and the start of Microsoft.

Although the book focused on Bill Gates, it covered a lot of Paul Allen.

Bill Gates, which all of his money, is a modest guy who cared more about winning than making money. At times he would under price his products to beat out competitors and end up loosing money. In the early days his only vice was his Porshe.

Paul Allen seems to enjoy spending his money a lot more.

So what, Paul is half as rich as Bill..... When you're talking BILLIONS, does it really fucking matter :1orglaugh

Who has the better life ? Neither of them.... they're both doing and living EXACTLY like the want to! How can it get better than that :thumbsup

so correct !! :thumbsup

Paul Allen also owns charter communications....

Couple points...

1. Bill Gates was hired by IBM to write DOS.

2. IBM backed out at the last minute.

3. Paul Allen saw the benefits of DOS and decided to back Gates financially to start Microsoft.

4. Paul Allen once owned more of Microsoft than Gates.

5. Paul Allen sold many of his shares early on to invest the money elsewhere.

6. Gates sits back as the figurehead of Microsoft.

7. Paul Allen spends his money on things he likes. Football stadium, basketball stadium, bailing out friend's businesses, etc.

Paul Allen is a philanthropist. Bill Gates is just lucky.

Bill gates , That guy can spend 1k dollars a min and still be richer than any movie star

The thing is, he's only worth that much. He doesn't have that much. His net worth is determined by the value of Microsoft stock. If he gave $1 to every person on Earth, he would have to sell off $6b worth of stocks...

Uncle Bill isn't that bad, his foundation gave away over 7,000,000,000 dollar...

Paul Allen has more fun and takes big bets that could potentially change the future in a very real/tangible way. He did it with Microsoft now he's doing it with space flight.

Bill is just a dork with big money. I'd prefer to be half as rich and have fun... or if I were to take the company stance like Bill I'd do it in Larry Ellison style.

True but the point is, he could if he wanted to.

Bill is worth $46 bil according to The Forbes 400 list

Paul is worth $22 bil according to Forbes 400 list

Allen, Paul Gardner # 5 on World's Richest People 2004 , # 4 on World's Richest People 2003

omg, he lost a position. he is poor again!

i'd love to have fresh new $1 bills to wipe my ass with for the rest of my life........ahhhhhh.........*starts dreaming* :Graucho

Paul Allen by far.

To me a better life is not so much measured by what someone has but by how happy they are.

I've met them both and I can truely say that Paul Allen comes across as being much more relaxed, confident, and happy. He's spends alot of his time having fun. When I met Bill Gates and watched him for a bit, he came across as ..welll... the best word is "geeky" with a bit of neurotic thrown in and always deep in thought. He doesn't seem to take much time to enjoy what his accomplishment have brought him or could bring him.

paul allen. no point in having all that $ and not doing anything with it.

This is a pretty uninformed post.

-- Bill Gates didn't "write" DOS, he and Paul Allen licensed it from someone else.
-- IBM didn't "back out" -- their pc's ran on DOS.
-- Allen didn't "back Gates financially," the two of them started as tech guys who created a version of BASIC that ran on the Altair 8080 which was the first microcomputer.
-- I've never heard anyone refer to Bill Gates as a "figurehead." The general consensus is he's brilliant. You don't become the richest man in the world from being "lucky."

And to answer the question, I'd rather be Paul Allen. I'd rather be a dilettante who goes from project to project depending on what interests me than have to maintain the intensity and focus Gates does.

Interesting. That's the most candid opinion on Bill I have ever heard anyone give. Everyone usually tiptoes around him.

Paul rocks. Not as much as Ringo & John though.

It would be totally subjective, but if it were me, I'd go out like Paul.

I mean, everything except owning the Jailblazers. :1orglaugh

And the answer is:



Hugh Hefner

If you think that americans flying in the sky is more important then babies eating in africa then you are right :)

We are 6 billions on earth I think . Hes worth like 40 billions ... he can give 5 $ ez

answer = their mistresses

Even with all his money, Bill Gates can/will do so little to change the underlying problem that causes babies to starve in Africa. I know this may sound harsh but some things are just a waste of money. Let natural selection run it's course.

Paul Allen by far. He does way more fascinating ventures with his money than Bill Gates does.

His investment company is Vulcan Ventures. Check out his web site. Its cool and inspiring.

Vulcan.com

:thumbsup

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/3...ulallen150.jpg

Bill Gates by far

Huh? Why?

I never said Bill Gates wrote DOS. I said he was hired by IBM to write it. Whoever actually wrote the damn thing is irrelevant.

IBM did back out initially. They told Bill Gates it wasn't exactly what they were looking for. They backpeddled later on, but only after signing off all interest in DOS. This is why I say he's lucky. He can be brilliant, but he only got rich because DOS was huge and IBM released their interest in it initially.

Whatever Paul Allen did before Microsoft, he was the one with the money and friends that made it possible for them to found Microsoft.

Personally, I think Bill Gates isn't as smart as people think he is. He got lucky in that he sat on all his Microsoft stock from the beginning until now. That's a huge risk that is usually only taken by people uninformed of how the stock market works. The fact that his company has grown steadily since inception has very little to do with his intelligence.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote the disc operating system for the Altair, which is considered the first PC. It was built by a company called MITS (spelling?) in New Mexico. This was before Microsoft existed; Gates and Allen owned a company called Traffic Data (or Traffic Something). The Altair didn't have a keyboard; It had eight swtiches and had to programmed by flipping the fucking switches. (Think of that the next time you curse Microsoft!)

It was afterwards that they wrote DOS for IBM, and that was about the same time Microsoft was founded - In New Mexico.

IBM did indeed use the DOS system. IBM computers used off the shelf parts because they were rushing to build the computer. However, their computers never really took off. It was then that they started selling DOS to other companies.

So is Paul Allen.

Gates' foundation has given away BILLIONS, to causes FAR MORE IMPORTANT than people taking joy rides into space. How fucking WORTHLESS is it for the average person to fly into space and back? Big Fucking Deal! The Gates' foundation helps ease human suffering. Looks like Fletch needs an education on the matter.

Paul Allen most likely

That's one of the most fucked up things I've ever heard. Natural selection? I don't think you'd have the same views after your child died of aids. You clearly have no idea of what's going on in Africa. Bill Gates is one of the few wealthy people in the world willing to stand up to the IMF and the World Bank and donate BILLIONS towards saving a race of people that have been designated for depopulation by the world's elite. Your comment doesn't sound harsh, it sounds moronic. Harsh would be to say I think all ignorant fucks like you should have their nuts cut off and handed to them. Teaching poor Africans that condoms cause aids and that raping virgins is the only way to cure it is not "natural selction". :321GFY

power or fun - which would you choose?

most SAY fun but until you've experienced the intoxicating effect power can have on you - you don't know.

As for the topic- Gates does what he loves, so does Allen. If anyone here became a billionaire we'd do whatever the fuck pleased us personally, whether it be work constantly to dominate the industry, buy sports franchises and start museums, or party with dozens of hookers and kilos of blow. They BOTH do a lot of good with their money and that's better than most people in their position. :2 cents: