Paul Gardner Allen (born January 21, 1953) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates and is one of the wealthiest people in the world.

He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., which is his private asset management company, and is chairman of Charter Communications. Allen also has a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio which includes stakes in Digeo, Kiha Software, real estate holdings, and more than 40 other technology, media, and content companies. Allen also owns three professional sports teams: the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, and the Seattle Sounders FC franchise in Major League Soccer that began playing in the 2009 season.

According to Forbes Allen is the 32nd richest person in the world, worth about $10.5 billion. This is down from $16 billion, the total reported by that same magazine at the beginning of the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, when he was 12th on its list of the richest Americans.