The paradox of Seattle billionaires: The bigger they are, the less we know about them
Paul Allen's recent interview with The Seattle Times provides a rare glimpse into the mind of a billionaire who's known more for his toys than for his intentions to develop Seattle.
A generation ago, when a family in Seattle hosted visitors from out of town, the choices were predictable: the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, Frederick & Nelson, Nordstrom, and maybe the Acres of Clams.
Nowadays, it's almost a given that you also take a waterfront tour of the homes of our billionaires. On Lake Washington, it's always Bill Gates' house. And Paul Allen's. And that odd shape of assembled cubes built by Charles Simonyi, an unknown till he spent some of his billions to hitch a ride to the International Space Station. Would you like Tang with your caviar?
Billionaires wouldn't become billionaires without some sense of competitiveness, and doubtless at some level they might be jealous of how Gates so dominates their world and its subset, philanthropy. It's inconceivable to write an essay about Seattle culture without some mention of Bill Gates, who dominated our new economy, minted a few thousand millionaires, and now, through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is aggressively – underline that last word – pushing health care and education on a designated path.
I have no reason to question Gates' policy goals, except to call attention to the fact that across the globe there are thousands of schools, education groups, and health care organizations lighting candles and praying for dollars from his most purpose-driven organization. Bill, thy will be done.
The Gates Foundation in some ways is like Microsoft – driven to dominate, to be right, to capture mind share, and to win. Just because it's a charity doesn't mean it's fuzzy or soft. It wants results. In the old days at Microsoft, it was all about beating IBM or Borland. Now it's about beating malaria, AIDS, and lousy math scores.
So in the panoply of billionaires, it's Bill, Bill, and Bill, and everyone else is a distant ran.
Paul Allen? Merely the fifth-richest man in America.
In contrast to Gates, who seems everywhere, hob-knobbing with Bono, pushing Zune on the streets of downtown Seattle, or hosting the head of China, and clearly using media attention to serve his goals, Allen won't play that game.
So we see little of him, which is too bad. In some ways, Allen is more interesting than Gates because he came to wealth from a place we would recognize. Gates came from affluence, banking, the law, the Laurelhurst Beach Club, and summers on Hood Canal. The son of a University of Washington librarian, Allen came from middle-class Wedgwood and, according to what his sister once told me, loves a shake, fries, and a Deluxe at Dick's Drive-In.
Both kids wound up at Lakeside School. And it's a safe bet that Gates, too, has had his share at Dick's. But there's a scruffy quality about Paul Allen that just can't be polished by the money or the handlers. Gates doesn't have that Everyman quality. Allen does, even in Prada loafers.
Gates is all about philanthropy as your mom would have wanted: United Way, save-the-world stuff. Sober, respectable, important. Allen does too, but there's a wild hair – the Washington State University frat guy showing his fun side by buying a couple of sports teams (Trail Blazers, Seahawks), Jimi Hendrix's guitar (Experience Music Project), a yellow submarine, a 757 (nifty for giving rides to Seattle City Council members), not one but two of the world's biggest yachts, and even James T. Kirk's chair from the starship Enterprise (the Science Fiction Museum collection). I'm personally grateful for Allen's restoration of Cinerama, home to red mohair seats and the best screen in town.
For all we know, Gates might have his own collection of spectacular toys, but we don't, and that's the point. Just as Gates has been superb at marketing himself as the face of Microsoft and the foundation, he's also been skillful at keeping a lid on his private life. With Allen, it's almost the reverse. We know about his toys and parties, thanks to the celebrity rags. (How long till Paris meets Paul?) But little in detail about the business side because he does so little to provide, personally or through his organization, Vulcan, a coherent sense of his goals.
Gates puts out specific plans of attack. Allen's Web site gives us this: "In my own work, I've tried to anticipate what's coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people's lives in a meaningful way." And yet for all his vagueness, Allen is putting a stamp on our city, not just in sports and entertainment, but by physical development, stick by stick. He owns much of both ends of downtown, at South Lake Union and south of Pioneer Square. Someday, I'm certain, he'll get the OK for high rise condos near Mercer Street. Maybe he'll buy the Clise property, but already he's the biggest player in downtown development since C.D. Stimson.
So what's he want? Does he control City Hall, as alleged by critics of city policies in South Lake Union? Is he the greatest string puller in Seattle? Or does he spend more time thinking about his submarine than the dazzling changes at South Lake Union?
There were no answers to this, only new glimpses into his personality in an interview with Kristi Heim of The Seattle Times. Most of the quotes were typically bland, and they reminded me of my own one-time interview with Allen. In contrast to Gates, who is articulate and on point, and occasionally impatient, Allen also can be thoughtful but so unpracticed in the art of the interview you want to relieve him of his discomfort.
The nominal news was Allen's support for documentaries by the PBS Nova series. But perhaps the impulse was revealed from this line in Heim's story: "These days Allen's public-relations team is working to remind people about his charitable side, what with all the attention given to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently."
The Times gently explored whether Allen's giving, big as it is, is sufficiently generous, compared to many of his peers. (A writer for The Wall Street Journal raised a similar point last February.) Allen didn't give any hint that he felt competitive with his old business partner. Instead, he said, "Bill's efforts are amazing." In any case, it's not much of a contest. Gates last year gave $212 million alone to organizations in the Pacific Northwest, compared to Allen's total giving of about $30 million a year, largely within the region.
If it's a competition for fun, though, I'll take Allen and one afternoon on either of his yachts in Antibes. Maybe we can cruise the shore and look at rich peoples' homes.
Paul, they run my e-mail right below.
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Comments:
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 9:41 a.m. inappropriate
Omissions: I had the opportunity to cruise by Gates Lake Washington mansion once - via a close to native outrigger canoe originating on the shores of North Lake Union. The scurrying of the guards as we approached our point of focus, parallel to the 520 Bridge, was enough to divert us from the object of our goal.
I think if one is too look at Gates himself, and what he means in America today, any rational, critically capable, individual will come to a similiar conclusion, unfortunately averting their gaze from crucial subjects.
A disclosure - I have long been a critic of his Father's Law Firm - Preston Gates and Ellis. Although I've seen the impacts of their style upon the company - most notably in the ongoing monopoly filings both in the U.S. and abroad - I've also been a loyal customer.
I own legal copies of just about their entire retail suite - Front Page, Publisher, Map Point, etc. I also just purchased Vista Ultimate with Small Business Office 2007 as part of a Dell package. One thing that has made the news is the fact that may people are choosing to purchase XP packaged with their new systems - presumably for two reasons - privacy and functionality - the specific details of which are not discussed in any mainstream media.
Conclusion - PGE is doing as bad a job running Microsoft as they are running the Sound Transit Metropolitan area - and its professional ranks.
But it is not these ommissions I address - nor for that matter the ommission of Allen's 'charitable' efforts regarding the privatization of space. These may well rank above every effort of Gates' in history.
The crucial story about Gates, and PGE, is the manner in which they have perverted the values of this country and the Boomer generation in the advancement of their power.
Senatorial candidate Mike McGavick repeatedly told us about the evils of Washington D.C and how we needed his new blood - but the truth is that the Washington State power structure is much more implicit than us isolated residents would ever care to believe. Witness one name only, Jack Abramoff.
I won't go into additional details, but rest assured, I am working on it. Is anyone else?
By the way, I was a Commons Opponent, and I personally think the final result in South Lake Union is looking to be quite good. Certainly much better than the genetic labs and clinics of Fred Hutchinson dumping medical waste into Lake Union.
Perhaps Paul would host a 'bury the hatchet' event with former Commons opponents on Lake Union - say by the next Fourth of July?
Hopefully I'll still be available....
-Douglas Tooley
Tacoma, WA
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 9:52 a.m. inappropriate
Allen's PR Team, Hard at Work: One reason Allen's PR team is working overtime on his image now relates to the upcoming RTID/ST2 vote. Allen and a couple of other commercial property developers would get even richer if that measure is approved in November.
Vulcan is the major private beneficiary of the RTID spending in Seattle. This ballot proposition is massively "uncharitable" to Seattle taxpayers -- hence the story touting how charitable Allen is.
The RTID spending directly benefiting Vulcan is in SLU (the Mercer Street work). This is described on page 58 of the RTID Blueprint for Progress (at the rtid.org site). The RTID spending on the roadwork and I-5 access improvements for the Vulcan developments would be $323,000,000 (YOE$). Hundreds of millions more would be spent by the City of Seattle there, as the lead agency on that work. Allen loves RTID.
Kemper Freeman, Jr. loves RTID too. Billions would be spent on I-405 upgrades to funnel vast numbers of SOV's to downtown Bellevue. The light rail extension ST2 would run right to Freeman, Jr.'s commercial properties there is icing on the cake for that guy.
RTID would be a terrible deal for Seattle taxpayers.
RTID would funnel billions of Seattle tax dollars to road building from Bellevue to Renton (and other places east of the lake). The breakdown of what RTID money gets spent where is on pages 30-32 of the Blueprint. The amount of revenues raised during the first 20 years is shown on page 88. Those figures tell the story about this scheme to transfer a massive amount of dollars out of the pockets of Seattle taxpayers to fund road construction east of Lake Washington.
On page 31 of the Blueprint there is a breakdown of what would get spent by RTID in Seattle. Taking half of the SR 520 and I-90 spending ($537 million), and adding in the "Seattle Mobility Project" plus the Lander St. overpass and the South Park Bridge (total: $547 million) gives a figure of $1,084 million.
That's it for Seattle spending by RTID. That isn't going to help inter-city vehicle congestion in the slightest. The Blueprint shows Seattle taxpayers would be on the hook for paying half of King County's tax obligations to RTID, and tax obligations to retire half of King County's share of RTID bonds. The YOE cost of those items to Seattle taxpayers would be $4,252 million. In exchange, what would taxpayers get in the way of road upgrades? Only $1,084 million in project spending.
In contrast, the property developers - and Allen especially - reap windfalls. Their commercial holdings in the targeted areas would skyrocket in value the day after the election if the measure passes.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 11:27 a.m. inappropriate
SO much crazy, so little time: Kemper Freeman Jr. HATES the package. Why? Because it'll build 50 miles of light rail, some through his hometown of Bellevue. The improvements to 405 pale in comparison to how much of a game-changer light rail will be across the lake.
All of the roads improvements planned for Seattle are meant to mitigate the coming teardown of the Viaduct (which is, at most, 20 years away). I don't know why you think it is possible to reduce "congestion" in a city. That's what cities are. They're congestion.
I'm glad that RTID is funding the Mercer St. project. Vulcan notwithstanding, South Lake Union has been a sh*thole for years. Empty lots are turning into apartments, condos and new businesses.
Paul Allen has had his eyes set on SLU for years. He was a big supporter of the Commons, then Commons II, both of which would have built a giant park for all of Seattle citizens, and would have fix Mercer St. Instead, people complained, and both measures were defeated. Now, Allen is pressing ahead with his plans, but this time, NO GIANT PARK. All the whining property owners took their Vulcan money and ran. Of course, THEY cashed in, but what do we get? A smaller Lake Union park, a streetcar, and that's about it.
Typical whiny Seattle-style complaining gets us nowhere fast.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 12:11 p.m. inappropriate
Please take Will's land: Maybe Paul Allen will purchase whatever Will has and Will will move away.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 12:21 p.m. inappropriate
---??????-----: "Kemper Freeman Jr. HATES the package."
Think, son. Obviously the commercial property developers in downtown Bellevue want ST2/RTID - and Kemper Development Co. would be the biggest winner of all.
The financial gain for those players would be huge. They could up their rents for their tenants. Better access for the worker drones in the office buildings means higher rents. Far more customers would be able to shop in Freeman Jr.'s mall. Improved roads, and the train, would give much greater access to those properties.
Freeman Jr. has every financial incentive in the world to strongly back RTID/ST2.
Freeman Jr. and his partners actually are big financial backers of RTID/ST2. Kemper Development Co. is a key player in National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). NAIOP is the big local trade group for developers and owners of commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate.
NAIOP just made a $50K contribution to the PAC funding the campaign FOR the RTID/ST2 ballot measure (the PAC is Keep Washington Rolling).
I don't know why you are trying to dissemble here, Will. The fact of the matter is that Freeman Jr. and his associates are pumping big money into the campaign to get this measure passed. That is where his financial interests are. Posting that he "HATES" this measure just makes you look oblivious.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 12:45 p.m. inappropriate
Another white bread story without fiber: Dear Mr. Mudville:
Why do you toss fluffy white snowballs at Allen and Gates when you should be swinging heavy wet mud. Is it because you want us (in comments) to do your dirty work for you? Out of curiosity, do Gates or Allen directly or indirectly (through one of their relatives or organizations with another name) own part or all of Crosscut? Are you being hired to put feelers out for these two before they embark on another massive public relations project to push through one of their local or world agendas?
Let's not mince words Mr. Corr. Allen mostly runs the Mayor's office and Gates wants to run the public school system.
Where was the press when the City improperly and probably illegally sold or "disposed" of its surplus property to Allen at South Lake Union? Why didn't someone do more investigative reporting on City Light's huge investment in upgrading the electrical grid in the Denny Regrade and SLU (all for Paul Allen) at the expense of ratepayers and more deserving neighborhoods in this City? Unfortunately, anytime a citizen tries to look into these dubious deals we get marginalized by both the press and heavily lobbied politicians and are denied access to information that should be of public knowledge.
Although these guys both have good intentions, we should always ask questions when they want to do something for us. Fortunately, sometimes people do. I was pleased when voters said "No' to Paul Allen's heavily funded charter school's ballot proposal a few years ago. More recently, I had a run in a new Gates Foundation pet "grassroots" school project called "Communities and Parents for Public Education" (CPPS). (We activists more correctly refer to these kinds of groups as Astroturf organizations). On the surface CPPS's literature says all the right blah blah things about supporting public schools, but many of us are wondering why this organization needs to exist. Oddly, when asked, neither board members nor the organization's staff person can remember how much the Gates grant was for. Some parents are questioning why the Gates Foundation would give to an organization with such a vague mission when every public school PTSA (with the same good schools mission) is working over-time to raise money for school essentials and specific academic programs but with no access to a Gates grant.
The fact that the Gates start-up grant came so easily to CPPS leads people to strongly suspect that it is a front for the Gates Foundation's desire to influence the Seattle Public Schools governance and management. There is much talk lately about an appointed school board, charter schools, and transferring control of the schools to the City (and a lot of it is in op-ed pieces placed by CPPS board members).
Come on Casey. When are you going to stop writing mindless fluff stories about local celebrities and start poking around and asking some tough questions again?
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 1:54 p.m. inappropriate
Kemper Freeman Jr. is personally opposing the package: http://www.truthabouttraffic.org/
That's his website wherein he opposes ST/RTID. Kemper wants to build ten times as much freeway capacity. RTID increases general purpose lanes miles by about 190 miles, hardly a satisfying amount to the scion of Bellevue's elite.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 1:59 p.m. inappropriate
I hope Bill Gates takes over: Seattle Public Schools...
It's not like he can do any worse than the folks running it now.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 3 p.m. inappropriate
RE: I hope Bill Gates takes over: Dear Mr. HorseAss:
Funny you should say that about the "folks" running the school district. It is the same cheap shot oneliner that CPPS takes at the current school board. They'll same something like "our schools are in a crisis".
So, tell us exactly how bad you think it is in the District and how Bill Gates will make it better. Be specific and use examples.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 4:30 p.m. inappropriate
RE: I hope Bill Gates takes over: Patricia-
Well, I think Danny Westneat had a good point a few months back. He used to send his kids to a historically black neighborhood. Several white parents wanted to add enrichment programs but got all sorts of static from black folks who thought enrichment was "racist". For more info, check out Westneat's columns. Knute Berger had a well thought out piece on the subject here at the 'cut.
I think some schools are great, while others are not. It breaks down geographically. The north end works well, the south end has problems. The inequality is unacceptable, but what is the response from the Board? More "diversity", more PC catch phrases and buzz words meant to separate the conversation from the folks on the ground.
I wish the Board would focus less on the union status of dairy workers and more on math. Less on identity politics and more on english.
I totally understand if you don't like charter schools. But not all kids learn the same, so we should try some new things. Personally, I' like to see some like what Matt Miller proposes.
The University of Washington has a Board of Regents. The people on this board know their business, and apply their knowledge to the stewardship of a great public institution. Perhaps what we need is a Seattle School Board of Regents.
Bill Gates or no Bill Gates, we need more leaders from the community getting involved, not fewer.
Also, I'd like to see the city council candidates put up or shut up about all the things they're going to do to "fix" Seattle schools. The city has VERY LITTLE to do with the schools (as I'm sure you already know). The City of Seattle needs to either 1.) do what other cities have done and take over the school district, or 2.) shut up and understand their limited role. The levy the city provides, the state is really screwing the kids of Seattle. I'd like a school board that has the sway to call them on the carpet. But I don't think we do.
ps: Are you the same Patricia Stambor of Monorail Recall fame? You were right about that, and I (a monorail guy) was wrong about that project. Such is life...
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 8:22 p.m. inappropriate
Paul Allen - Misunderstood Good Guy: Let's not forget a couple of things about Paul Allen that put his life in context.
First, it was Paul Allen who had the glimmer in the eye, who recognized the opportunity, who took the initiative, and who sought out Gates at Harvard to start Microsoft. Early on, Paul and Bill lived and breathed Microsoft and together are responsible for its founding.
In those early years, after Microsoft had decamped from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Paul developed Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a life-threatening disease which took him out of commission for a year or two while he dealt with death. This brush with mortality in his twenties, and his father's death some years later, add twin grace notes of humility and futility to his actions that explain their grounded unpredictability.
As his Hodgkins went into remission, his net worth rose into the 100s of millions. As Microsoft grew like a weed over the next fifteen years, he became unfathomably wealthy and one of the richest men in the world. Although he founded Vulcan, did the EMP, funded startups, played in a rock-'n-roll band, bought the Trailblazers, saved the Seahawks, gave to charity, bought yachts, built a library at the UW in honor of his father, although these activities contributed much, the public has always perceived him mainly as little more than an "accidental billionaire" in the shadow of Bill Gates.
Because he wasn't behind the curtains running Microsoft like Bill, it's presumed that he's somehow frivolous, and lucky to have all that money. The accidental truth is that had he chosen to sit in a room on a chair for the last 20 years, he'd have a net worth equal approximately to what he has today. So in a sense, one can say that his non-work at Microsoft, brought on by Hodgkins, was the most highly leveraged investment by anyone in the history of mankind. From a time and effort perspective he makes Warren Buffett look like an investor in lemonade stands.
By following his passions, Paul Allen is like a master gardener who plants seeds, sows and then hopes. I believe that Paul Allen has much more to contribute to the city, and he will do it in his own way on his own schedule. Already, he contributes much, but he still has the potential to contribute in a way that imprints Paul Allen on people's minds for the next 100 years as Seattle's Carnegie or Mellon or Morgan (or Gates). It won't be because he spends lots of money, but because of what he builds and why, and the direction and purpose that underlies his actions. I think you will see him apportion his fortune much like Bill has, so that an endowment will exist to carry out his long-term vision for decades to come. Unlike Bill, who has purposely sought out the most needy, Paul is most likely to fund projects and institutions that support and amplify the importance of science, technology, rock'n'roll, and reading in Seattle. (Shall I suggest the Pacific Science Center as a special loacl target for his philanthropy?) Those are causes and activities he recognized in Seattle as a kid, and which he has already projected onto our fair city. Ultimately, he will leave a more significant legacy in a more enduring way with a non-profit philanthropy than he will through his current business ventures, so it seems inevitable that at least half his fortune will be dedicated to non-profit institutions that support some of his often quirkly ideas, such as building a museum designed to look like a smashed guitar or starting a software company because he saw a microprocessor on the cover of a magazine. Some ideas catch fire, others don't. It's hard sometimes to recognize the difference.
Posted Tue, Jul 31, 8:43 p.m. inappropriate
People like Rick Anderson of Seattle Weekly have dug into Allen's City Hall influence, and Gates' too, for that matter. It's not a big secret they get what they want, sooner or later.
Posted Wed, Aug 1, 8:05 a.m. inappropriate
RE: I hope Bill Gates takes over: Will-
Well said. As hard as it is to swallow the concept of charter schools you make a very articulate argument. (I haven't read Matt Miller yet).
I agree we need more leaders that can look at the bigger picture but if you have kids in the public (or even private) schools it is hard to look past the daily routine of transportation, homework, fundraising, and after-school daycare and activities to take an interest.
Funny you mention the monorail. I had to drop out of that controversy because my then 15-year-old left home for 9 months. And here is a testiment a good public school. I didn't always know where he was living but I did know that he went to school most days - he even graduated!
(The monorail was a good idea with a bad financing plan).
Posted Wed, Aug 1, 5:18 p.m. inappropriate
RE: ---??????-----: The fact of the matter is that Freeman opposes the ballot measure and is spending money to defeat it. NAIOP isn't controlled by Freeman - far from it.
Freeman's anti-traffic improvement politics indeed make no sense from a developer perspective. His anti-transit ideology never has made much sense to anyone but the people who need to suck up to him, which includes his hired band of goofball ideologues masked as transportation experts.
To assert that Freeman is supporting the ballot measure is totally ridiculous and defies obvious facts. Freeman seems willing to forego necessary road improvements because of his silly opposition to light rail.
Developers, and a ton of other interests, may in fact gain from many of the transportation improvements on the ballot. So what? The issue needs to be weighed by voters who see benefit to their lives, or not.
Posted Thu, Aug 2, 12:34 p.m. inappropriate
Can you back that up?: I've heard Freeman, Jr. is just putting on a show. He wants to give the appearance of opposing RTID/ST2, while at the same time laundering big money through NAIOP to support it.
You claim he's spending money to defeat it? How much money, and what is he doing with that money?
That "website" he supposedly is funding contains statements that directly support one of ST's main false claims these days: that "the courts" gave ST additional taxing authority beyond what the voters approved.
Freeman Jr. would be a huge beneficiary of RTID/ST2. The only people who are trying to paint him as a legit opposition figure are ST supporters - that's because Freeman Jr. is doing nothing of substance to try and defeat the thing, yet Kemper Development is backing the 'pro' side. Transparent BS.