PAUL ALLEN, ONE of the co-founders of Microsoft, has lifted the lid on his relationship with chairman Bill Gates in a new book in which he claims that Gates plotted to reduce his ownership stake when he was stricken with cancer.
Allen’s new book, released on 19 April and entitled Idea Man, claims that Gates whittled down his ownership stake in the company as Allen received treatment for Hodgkin’s disease, a form of cancer.
An excerpt from the book has been published in Vanity Fair magazine article entitled The Odd Couple in which Allen tells the story of his first meeting with Gates right up until he quit Microsoft in 1983 after being diagnosed with the disease.
Allen claims he came up with the name “Micro-Soft” and describes the origins of the corporation that would go on to become the fifth-most-valuable in the world.
“Our great string of successes had married my vision to his unmatched aptitude for business,” he writes.
But in the end it all went sour in late 1982 when Allen claims that he caught Gates and current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer complaining about Allen’s lack of productivity and plotting to reduce his stake in the company.
Allen would eventually resign and would go on to found Vulcan, an asset management company.
He was recently ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s 37th richest person, with a $13.5 billion fortune. At 58 he is fighting another bout of cancer.
Meanwhile, Gates has gone on to be worth $56 billion and is now working on an number of global health projects with his wife, Melinda.
In a statement responding to the book Gates said his recollection of events was different while Microsoft declined to comment, according to The Seattle Times.
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