Paul Allen diagnosed with cancer
Paul Allen, a Microsoft co-founder, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
(Credit: NBA)Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been diagnosed with cancer, according to a memo sent on Monday to employees of Vulcan, Allen's company.
Allen, who is a survivor of Hodgkin's disease, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to Vulcan CEO Jody Allen, who is also Paul Allen's sister.
Jody Allen's memo, which was also sent to the media:
To employees of Vulcan and affiliates:
I want to let you know that Paul was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
He received the diagnosis early this month and has begun chemotherapy. Doctors say he has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a relatively common form of lymphoma.
This is tough news for Paul and the family. But for those who know Paul's story, you know he beat Hodgkin's a little more than 25 years ago and he is optimistic he can beat this, too.
Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat. He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we'll be sure that nothing intrudes on that.
We would ask you to respect Paul's privacy and not discuss this outside of the office.
If you have any questions, please ask your EC member.
Thank you in advance for what I know will be all your good thoughts for Paul.
Jody
Fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he and his wife, Melinda, were keeping Allen in their thoughts.
"Melinda and I have Paul and his family in our thoughts and prayers," Gates said in a statement. "Paul is among my closest friends, and I know to him be a strong and resilient individual."
Updated at 6:55 p.m. PST with comment from Bill Gates.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
IIRC, Mr. Allen was a huge (and heavily investing - e.g. Scaled Composites) proponent of commercial space exploration.
But a pox on Ina Fried, Cnet and whomever leaked this internal memo :"We would ask you to respect Paul's privacy and not discuss this outside of the office."
I too wish Paul all the best.
compete or complete
Ina did nothing inappropriate here. Just wish the best for P. Allen., the saner and the conscientious one of the three MS co-founders.
My apologies to Ina and Cnet.
OK, I guess you'll think to include such clarification when reporting in future. I'm glad I was wrong about you, and thanks for clearing that up. Can I also make a request? In matters such as this, do you think there is any merit in NOT allowing comments? Or having them moderated BEFORE they are included on the site. Some of the comments here are very offensive, and I think it would be better all round if either they could be weeded out BEFORE they appear on the site, or simply no comment was allowed.
Let's face it, what comment is of any real use here? Nobody can add to the story, and I'm sure for most people the wish of a speedy and full recovery for Paul, so why the comments? This was true in much of the reporting about Steve Jobs health problems, and it seems true again - perhaps it would just be a "good policy". I understand CNet wants debate, even foolish PC vs Mac posturing is traffic, but it seems in very poor taste when someone's health is the topic.
Tricky subject, but at their discretion. The news is the news, and not allowing discussion here doesn't mean that folks won't discuss it elsewhere.
It brings me to thinking about the site talkbacks in general... I mean, we all fart around in them if the topic interests us.
In cases like this however, it's a rare opportunity for those of us who do it regularly to put everything aside and, if only for a moment, be human... to be our ordinary selves. To not set up debates, or to fill in analysis, or to debate (idiots, children and spammers exempted, apparently). In a somewhat perverse way, it serves a useful purpose.
Cancer is, unfortunately, a very human thing. It sucks. It destroys lives. We've likely been having to deal with it for as long as we've existed as a species. Sometimes cellular mutation brings improvement to the species as a whole - sometimes it does, well, this.
Mr. Allen stands a good chance of fighting this thing off - after all, he's done it before, and thanks to technology, managed to get 25 extra years that he otherwise would not have had. There's something good to be said for progress when viewed from that angle.
Sure, he works/worked for a corporation that IMHO needs to change a lot of things about itself. OTOH, Mr. Allen is a genuinely nice guy by all accounts. When I saw him in the Space scene, I was pleasantly surprised, and glad to see someone with some influence and wealth actually doing the right thing by the human race. He's one of the few execs from Microsoft that the rest of us could consider as being cool, as a stand-up guy - one of the few that appears to have not trade in his soul (or his humanity) to get where he is.
So yeah, maybe they do need to post news like this. And maybe they do need to leave it open for the rest of us to get a word in on how we feel about the guy. I'm sure that even the most perfunctory 'get well soon' will likely cheer the guy up, should he happen to glance down here... and no human being that I know of would not appreciate it.
You earned a respect point back today. Let's not waste it.
What do you have against Vulcan? I'm just curious. Even I don't really understand fully what they do- they seem to have fingers in many different pies.
We'll leave it at that.
"I neither need nor desire your respect. We'll leave it at that."
That was a bit uncalled for. Even for you.
"I was speaking not of Vulcan, but of Microsoft - and I neither need nor desire your respect."
Wow. One step forward, fifty steps back. You've really done your reputation a smackdown today. :/
"I was speaking not of Vulcan, but of Microsoft - and I neither need nor desire your respect."
Oh please, your continuous need to be right and dispute criticism proves otherwise. You couldn't even post to this article without eventually using it as an opportunity to take another cheap shot at Microsoft. That says something about your complete lack of integrity.
I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. Random_Walk has strong opinions and thoughts about Microsoft and will use this site as a platform for their own purposes. And that's just fine. While he is not required to respect the opinions or thoughts of other commenters here, it is only civil and polite to respect his.
Treat others as you would have them treat you. It's the fair and honest thing to do.
I would be worried if someone valued Dan's respect.
You would have thought after how Apple market value swayed all over the place with the disclosure of Steve Jobs health that professionals would have realized the importance of respecting someone's personal health concerns....
Yeah, lots of shills were gleeful about Jobs getting sick and upset at his recovery, no need to drop to the level of MSShill Inc.
Hoping for a speedy and complete recovery.
Presently working as Deputy Town Health Officer Preventive at one of eighteen towns of Karachi Pakistan.
Thanks for policing the comments thread here and removing the disruptive / hateful posts. This is not a subject that should be treated with the same spite and vitriol that the typical Mac vs PC comments have.
cance is a *****........ jobs should talk to him and how to manage trough this incident
"Herpes kills cancer"
I'd rather have a std than die.
- by LennyBe November 24, 2009 11:00 AM PST
- When it comes to the subject of Paul Allen; Bill Gates annoys me to no end. When Paul Allen was fighting against Hodgkins Disease, there was a report that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were trying to figure out how to get his Microsoft shares if he died--shares that should have gone to his family. Shame on Bill Gates for even having that thought cross his mind. How do you even contemplate thinking that way about somebody who is supposed to be your friend???
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