Customer Reviews

The Accidental Zillionaire: Demystifying Paul Allen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Paul Allen is a fascinating guy, and this is his only biography. So it is worth reading. This is a well written, though a bit repetitive, short book that won't take long to read. The book retells what he has done, but without a lot of perspective.

Having finished the book, I have only partial answers to the two key questions:

1. What kind of guy is he? This is an unauthorized biography, so the author never got to know Paul Allen. The book gives plenty of anecdotes that hint at what he is like. But I still don't have a sense of who he is.

2. What has he accomplished? The book retells his life, but without perspective. It doesn't really attempt to answer the big question: If Paul Allen had simply kept his Microsoft shares, how would the technology revolution have been different? To what extent is he simply an observer, and to what extent is he a driving force?

How accurate is the book? I knew Paul back in high school (haven't seen him since) and the description of those years is fine. I can't judge the accuracy of the rest of the book, but it bothers me that the author says Paul lived off his Microsoft dividends, when in fact Microsoft has never (until very recently) issued dividends. I wonder how many other details are wrong.

I bought Accidental Zillionaire on impulse. I passed it on the end cap and thought it looked interesting. It was! Even though I live in the Seattle area and end up following Allen through the news he makes here, this was a terrific - and fair - look at the whole life of Paul Allen. The author did a great job getting the story straight and demystifying Allen. I suppose one of the things most famous people must tire of is inaccuracies about their lives. It seems as though the author did a good job of sticking with facts and not getting into too much rumor and innuendo that would have made this book a gossip work rather than a read that gives you insight into the life and times of Allen. I thought the book's take on the relationship between Allen and Gates was particularly interesting - especially how Allen has lived his post Microsoft life trying to get another success under his belt - one that would prove that MS wasn't just the vision and success of Gates, with Allen along for the ride. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great overview of Allen's life and work.

A fast read. However, this book is more akin to a compendium of previously published magazine articles. Consequently, that makes this oeuvre a $27.95 term paper. After reading the book Paul Allen is not demystified in any way as the title purports. I would recommend that you do a net search on Mr. Allen. You will reach the same level of enlightenment while saving yourself a bundle. This book should not have been published as it is repetitive and uninformative.

Laura Rich pierces the Allen veil to show the man and the business he has built. This book demystifies the highly private billionaire, Paul Allen, and gives you a first rate look at his life from his upbringing in Seattle as a fledging computer geek, to founding the world's largest software company.
Rich touches on many unexplored angles about Allen's life from his quirky private nature, the roots of the passions that drive his investments; and the nature of his relationships to family, friends and colleagues.
An overall great look at one of the richest men in America.

I saw this book in the bookstore window and was curious. The only
thing I knew about Paul Allen was that he and Bill Gates founded
Microsoft. The book is a fascinating, insightful tale of a per-
plexing multi-billionaire who struggles to grasp the brass ring,
predict again the future of technology, and make it his own. The
author spotlights the reasons for Allen's myriad interests, as
well as, the conflicts between his self-perception as "an idea
man" and an inconsistent venture capitalist. I couldn't put
the book down. Its easy to read, carefully researched, highly
recommended.

It's hard not to envy Paul Allen. A son of Oklahomans who moved to Seattle, he went to a private school, met Bill Gates, helped start Microsoft and has had billions of dollars to play with almost ever since. OK, so when Microsoft first went public, he only had a hundred million or so to play with. He's been sued for sexual harassment, owns a big chunk of a hot movie studio and is still an ordinary slob. Allen and his family refused to cooperate with the author, so nothing is straight from the horse's mouth - at least not that horse. The author shows admirable self restraint for the first several chapters, but really pulls the lid off later in the book. Allen comes off looking like a junior level IT nerd who won the lottery, a weirdly fascinating, odd guy. The book is easy enough to read, though it relies mainly on secondary sources and press reports, and is repetitious, disjointed and inclined to skip important information, such as dates. But, if you want the gossipy side of the Microsoft story, We suggest this as your vacation reading.

I bought this book because I have admired (in all ways) Paul Allen for a long time. I did not love the title, but wanted to find out more about him. My first thought was "Why does it have to be called The Accidental Zillionaire?" I knew that name came from an article in Wired magazine that I did not particularly care for. Accidental Zillionaire could be applied to anybody who made their fortune from the advent of PCs; Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Charles Simonyi, etc., all were in the right place at the right time, yet nobody makes them sound like their fortune was handed to them. Face it, Paul Allen's vision and genius brought Microsoft to life.

My desire to learn more about Paul Allen was tempered by my feelings of regret for reading a book that he clearly wanted no part of. I wish he would have been involved, at least to make sure he wasn't being portrayed inaccurately. Ms. Rich claims she only wanted to tell his story, but I think she unfairly slammed him at every opportunity. Derisive comments about his appearance and clothing were not necessary--frumpy, unattractive, droopy middle, not looking like a billionaire; those phrases tell nothing about him, they only serve to insult. I can't help but wonder why those comments were necessary. I think he's a handsome man with the most amazing looking eyes, eyes I could just get lost in. Stupid Jerry Hall and Monica Seles; they were so lucky to have him in their lives. I doubt they appreciated him beyond his wallet.

I don't know, maybe Laura Rich was offended because he would not cooperate with her and that affected the way she wanted to present him. I did enjoy the early parts of the book where she talked about his parents, their hard lives growing up in Oklahoma and their early years in Seattle, but after that it just seemed more like at attempt to drag him through the mud than to tell his story. I started out trying to get past the title and like the book, but I just couldn't.

I think that Mr. Allen is one of the most mysterious men in the world. This somewhat explains. Wasn't great, wasn't horrible. I got thru it without a problem.

I picked up this book at a garage sale recently. Although it is an unauthorized biography it gave me a good glimpse of Paul Allen's life. Fascinating just doesn't describe it. A worthy read into the journey of a man who has affected our existence.

This seems to be an objective look at Paul Allen. In this book I found out that if it was not for Mr. Allan, Bill Gates would have moved Microsoft to somewhere south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Paul Allan gave Seattle a good deal on the whole. By the Space Needle he demonstrated the power of money. Great wealth can make some dreams come true. To balance this out Seattle got Microsoft, just on the other side of Lake Washington (not the Bay Area). Let's keep our fingers crossed that Paul Allen does prove he did not just stumble across the idea/vision that created Microsoft and comes up with another big idea. We could all benefit from it.
I subtract one star, because all this information collected in one place in this book invades the privacy Mr. Allen seeks. More privacy could make the diffrence. After all he got his first big idea when the spot light was not on him yet.







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