![[Allen pic]](/gif/1229allen.gif)
It's not enough that Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft Corp., becoming a
multibillionaire in the process, and remains Microsoft's second-largest
shareholder. It's not enough that he owns the Portland Trailblazers
basketball team and has launched five charitable organizations benefitting
the arts, medical research and the environment, among other things.
No, if all that isn't enough to spur your feelings of inadequacy, consider that Allen also is bankrolling the future of networking and the Internet through his investments in dozens of start-ups that are pushing the boundaries of technology. With over $1.5 billion invested to date in the 39 companies that comprise his Wired World portfolio, Allen and his venture capital experts are spreading the seed money from which may sprout the next Microsoft or Netscape Communications Corp.
Among the companies benefitting from Allen's largess: Certicom Corp., a security and cryptography firm based in Mississauga, Ontario; CyberSource Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based electronic transaction processing and software delivery firm; Liquid Audio, Inc., an Internet music software company in Redwood City, Calif.; Net Perceptions, Inc., the Eden Prairie, Minn., company helping Web site operators target content to customers; Supercede, Inc., a Java development tools company in Bellevue, Wash., Microsoft's backyard; and DreamWorks, the Stephen Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg-led multimedia entertainment powerhouse.
Allen's vision is simple: We're becoming a connected planet, thanks to the emergence of high-bandwidth networks and less expensive, more accessible computing power. The companies he's investing in will provide the data processing, storage and transmission tools that will shoot digital information around this Wired World, as well as serve up the content and entertainment that will keep us all online.
