Allen Paul is a co-founder of Microsoft, the world's largest software company. He was born in Seattle, Washington in 1953 and attended Harvard University. He co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975 and served as its executive vice president until 1983. He is credited with developing the first version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 microcomputer. He also wrote the first version of the Windows operating system. He left Microsoft in 1983 to pursue other interests, but remains an active investor in the technology industry.