Paul Allen Book Released Today – “Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-Founder of Microsoft”

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft has written his personal account of the founding of the company and his relationship with Bill Gates. The book, “Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-Founder of Microsoft”, is scheduled to be released today, the 18th of April.

There had been some controversy after some excerpts from his book were published in the May issue of Vanity Fair and on the magazine’s Web site. According to the article there were reports that Gates and Allen had disagreements over product decisions, hiring plans, and their shares in the young company.

Eventually their disagreements led to Allen leaving the company in 1983, but remained on the board until 2000. Gates and Allen, friends since their school days, eventually repaired their friendship and both have amassed great wealth from founding the company.

In the book Allen talks about how he and Gates combined their knowledge and resources to build one of the most influential companies in history. In his book, Allen refers to Gates as a partner “who could take my ideas and magnify them.” Allen continues to write, “Our great string of successes had married my vision to his unmatched aptitude for business.”