Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, named it and found the software that made it, but by his account Gates pushed him into a 64 to 36 split and, while Allen was being treated for cancer in 1982, he overheard Gates and Steve Ballmer discussing how to dilute his stake. He left in 1983, refused Gates's offer of five dollars a share, and the shares he kept made him a billionaire. This episode follows the whole story: Lakeside, the Altair, the split, the partnership agreement, Ballmer's stake, the IBM deal, the diagnosis, the overheard conversation, the six page letter, Idea Man and Gates's reply in his own memoir.
Founder Stories tells the story of one founder per episode, told plainly and in order.
