Paul Allen's estate is officially offered Portland Trail for sale

The Portland Trail Blazer are officially on the market.

On Tuesday, Microsoft's co-founder, Paul Allen, announced that he started selling the NBA franchise. Investment Bank Allen & Co. with legal advisor from Hogan Lovells is managed by Investment Bank. It is expected that the 2025-26 season could be extended and one of the largest team sales prices in the history of the league could generate.

Since his death in 2018, the Blazer have been held in a confidence by Allen's sister Jody Allen. According to the conditions of this trust, the blazers – and many of the other assets are liquidated by everyone – with the Erlöss, which are aimed at non -profit causes by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

“Paul's instructions were clear,” noted the property. “These assets are to be sold and the proceeds to finance his philanthropic vision.”

The sale marks the beginning of the end of the private empire of Paul Allen – and the beginning of a historical charity.

The co -founder of Microsoft who has changed the world

Paul Allen was a co -founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975 after the two friends from childhood from Seattle had broken off college to follow a bold vision: a computer on every desk. While Gates took over the role of CEO and public face, all the most important technical spirit was in the early years of the company, wrote a large part of its early software and led the deal to license MS-DOS to IBM.

Microsoft went to the stock exchange on March 13, 1986.

• Microsoft ended the day with an overall market capitalization of 780 million dollars.
• The proportion of Bill Gates 45% was worth 350 million dollars.
• Paul Allen was worth 25% $ 195 million
• Steve Ballmers 8% was worth 51.5 million US dollars.

The company left the company in 1983, after diagnosing Hodgkin's lymphoma (which he later beat).

At the time of his death in 2018, Paul Allen was 20 billion US dollars. Although he gradually sold most of his Microsoft shares, the fortune that he built, which he built, enabled him to pursue passion projects for a lifetime-of-professional sports teams and explorations from deep sea to space flight.

A realm of passion projects

Paul Allen not only collected companies – he collected causes. His portfolio was huge and versatile, only through his curiosity, his ambition and his willingness to write enormous checks in order to realize great ideas.

To his most remarkable acquisitions and activities:

• Portland Trail Blazer – Bought for 70 million US dollars in 1988
• Seattle Seahawks – Bought for 194 million US dollars in 1997 after the previous owner threatened to move the team to Los Angeles
• Seattle Sounders-Wurde 2007 partial owner of the MLS expansion franchise franchise
• Real estate – At a time, all the largest private landowners in the state of Washington, including estimated properties in Seattle and extensive stocks, was Mercer Island
• Vulcan Inc.- The private company of all previously managed its business, real estate, entertainment and philanthropic investments
• Octopus-a 414 foot high Megayacht, which was one of the largest in the world and contains two lifting brands, a submarine and a recording studio
• Spaceshipone – helped finance the first privately built spaceship
• Stratolaunun
• Experience Music Project (now MOPOP) – a massive pop culture museum in Seattle
• Art collection – All built the most valuable private art collections in the world that was sold in 2022 for $ 1.6 billion.

A legacy of giving

Allen was an extraordinarily spacious philanthropic, which in his life donated over 2 billion US dollars to more than 1,500 non -profit organizations. After his death, his estate continued this mission.

The most important areas of giving were:

• Brain science and health by all institutes for brain science
• Climate change and biological diversity through programs that protect the sea life and endangered species
• Initiatives for home and homelessness in the northwest of Pacific
• Art and culture, including support for museums and performance, locations

He was also a member of the Giving promise, which means that he had undertaken to donate most of his assets for charitable purposes. The sale of his sports teams – now from the Trail Blazers – is generated more billion for these purposes.

The Trail Blazer will get billions

Paul Allen bought the Trail Blazers for in 1988 $ 70 million. In 2014 Steve Ballmer, Paul's former Microsoft colleague, bought the La Clipperm for $ 2 billionA widespread movement at that time overpriced as wild and only feasible because Ballmer had unlimited money. A decade later, the Clippers are worth $ 5 billion. The latest sales from NBA franchise indicate a potential assessment of the trail blazers in the 3 to 5 billion US dollars:

• Phoenix Suns was sold in 2023 at an evaluation of $ 4 billion
• Milwaukee Bucks -Stake -Stake -Deal in 2023, the team rated 3.5 billion US dollars
• Boston Celtics are currently being sold for a record association of $ 6.1 billion

The founder of Nike, Phil Knight, tried to buy the Trail Blazers in 2022 with a registered+ billion US dollar, but the deal was declined. The same offer would probably be neglected today.

While only the Blazers are officially for sale, Allen's estate still has the Seattle Seahawks and a 25% participation in the Seattle Sunders, both of which could be on the market next.

The beginning of the end – and the beginning of somewhat larger

Paul Allen not only built prosperity – he built a blueprint for the good use. Since the Trail Blazer are now officially offered for sale, a process that started with his death in 2018 is finally taking up speed. His remarkable life – as a technical pioneer, sports owner and visionary philanthropic – is now financing a posthumous second act that could be effective. As he once put it:

“What should exist? What could be? That is the question that I keep asking.“

With billions that are now intended for his foundation, the answers to this question can simply begin.