Paul Gardner Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, to Kenneth Sam Allen, an associate director of the University of Washington Libraries, and Faye G. Allen, a schoolteacher.

Allen developed an early fascination with computers and programming. He spent countless hours at the University of Washington computer lab, where his father worked, gaining access to mainframe computers.

Allen met Bill Gates at Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle. Their shared passion for computers quickly forged a strong friendship and collaborative partnership.

Allen and Gates collaborated on various programming projects at Lakeside, including a traffic counting system called Traf-O-Data, providing them with early entrepreneurial experience.

Bill Gates graduates from Lakeside and eventually enrolls at Harvard University

Allen enrolls at Washington State University, majoring in computer science. However, he maintained close contact with Gates and continued to explore entrepreneurial opportunities.

After two years, Allen drops out of Washington State University to join Gates in Boston, prompted by the release of the Intel 8080 microprocessor.