Paul Allen: Bill Gates Was 'Scheming To Rip Me Off'

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is taking his feelings for former business partner Bill Gates public. An excerpt from Allen’s upcoming memoir Idea Man, out April 19, outlines his tempestuous relationship with Gates, from their first meeting as students in Seattle to their professional partnership and creation of Microsoft in 1975 and Allen’s eventual departure from the company in 1983.

Although he has gone on to create several successful billion-dollar entities of his own, it appears old grudges with Gates and Microsoft die hard. In a scene reminiscent of The Social Network, Allen describes what he believes was an attempt by Gates and Steve Ballmer to downsize his role within Microsoft, while he was suffering from Hodgkin’s Disease in 1982. “I helped start the company and was still an active member of management, though limited by my illness, and now my partner and my colleague were scheming to rip me off,” Allen writes, in an excerpt featured in Vanity Fair.

Despite the strong words from Allen, Gates still considers him a friend. “While my recollection of many of these events may differ from Paul’s, I value his friendship and the important contributions he made to the world of technology and at Microsoft,” he said in a statement. —EMILY EXTON