Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen just sold this abstract painting for $43.8 million

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — one of the richest men in the world — must have a pretty good eye for investing in art. Allen sold the above 1953 abstract painting by American abstract artist Barnett Newman at Sotheby’s for $43.8 million on Tuesday, a whopping price tag that exceeded the $30 million to $40 million… Read More…

Virgin Galactic breaks sound barrier, set to reach full space flight by end of 2013

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Virgin Galactic took a big step in its quest for space travel today with a successful test flight of the commercial spaceliner SpaceShipTwo, which broke the sound barrier Monday morning above the Mojave Desert in California. After being released from its carrier craft at 48,000 feet, the rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo began a 16-second burn and rose to… Read More…

Paul Allen says Steve Ballmer would be a ‘great NBA owner’

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Paul Allen thinks his good buddy and former colleague Steve Ballmer would be a “great” NBA owner, but isn’t exactly gung-ho about bringing the NBA back to Seattle. Ballmer is leading an investment group that is trying to buy the Sacramento Kings and bring them to the Emerald City. The Microsoft CEO and Chris Hansen reached… Read More…

GeekWire Radio: This startup founder wants to help you find a better babysitter

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[Editor's note:  Be sure to join us in person this Thursday, April 11 for the GeekWire Radio Show, live on stage for the first time. Click here for tickets.] Our topic this week: Your kids, and how to take a break from them. Yes, it’s the eternal challenge for many people with young children — how do… Read More…

Bill Gates and Paul Allen reprise classic Microsoft photo, three decades later

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The photo above is a Microsoft classic, showing the company’s founders, Paul Allen and Bill Gates, surrounded by personal computers in 1981. Fast forward 32 years, and check out the picture below, taken this week at Allen’s Living Computer Museum in Seattle. So much fun catching up w/ computing pioneers at the #LCMCelebration last night! Here… Read More…

Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital expanding to Silicon Valley

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Updated with details of the new office’s leader. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s investment arm, Vulcan Capital, plans to open a new office in Silicon Valley, expanding its presence and looking for new investments. Paul Ghaffari, Vulcan Capital’s chief investment officer, tells the Reuters news service that the new office in Palo Alto, Calif., is part… Read More…

Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch opens giant hangar for world’s largest aircraft

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The world’s largest aircraft needs a ginormous place to live, and that’s exactly what Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch has built. Stratolaunch Systems, the commercial space venture backed by the Microsoft co-founder, just opened a new hangar for the world’s largest plane that is set to launch into space by 2016. The 103,257 square-foot hangar is based in Mojave,… Read More…

Youth movement: Paul Allen donates $7.5 million to five up-and-coming scientists

Paul Allen

Paul Allen is giving his money to five young scientists he thinks need a little cash to answer fundamental questions in biology. The Paul G. Allen Foundation announced today $7.5 million in funding to the second round of the Allen Distinguished Investigators, a three-year grant program that supports scientists’ research. The foundation says that these five… Read More…

Report: NBA returning to Seattle with help from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

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Watch the video above. This is what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer — and frankly, the rest of the Seattle sports community — is probably doing right now. Why? The NBA is reportedly coming back to the Emerald City thanks to an investment group that includes Ballmer. Respected Yahoo! Sports NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is Tweeting… Read More…

SpaceX and Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch part ways over rocket design changes

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Stratolaunch Systems, the commercial space venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has cut ties with one of its high-profile partners, SpaceX, one of the pioneers in the industry. Gary Wentz, the Stratolaunch CEO, confirmed the news Tuesday in a message to the Flight International news site. “Stratolaunch and SpaceX have amicably agreed to end our… Read More…