Cnet is reporting that Paul Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and that this memo was distributed by Vulcan CEO and Paul Allen sister Jody Allen:

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

It’s unclear if the memo was leaked to Cnet, but other sources are reporting that the news has been confirmed by a Vulcan spokesperson.

Grant Brissey covered everything from hard news and technology, to music, film, and visual arts during his time working for The Stranger. Grant's work has also appeared at Geekwire, and in Billboard,...

26 replies on “Paul Allen Diagnosed with Cancer”

  1. Please don’t discuss this outside the office…

    Unless of course you want to provide a hot tip to Teh Stranger…

    Discuss away..

    Way to respect the man’s privacy Grant.

    But hey ..you got the scoop!

  3. Nice edit after my post discussing Cnet….

    I really don’t care who was first to lay claim to breaking news.. It serves little purpose for any outlet to carry the story, except to provide additional opportunity for revenue generation, patient/family wishes be damned.

    I’ve never been a fan of the Press when they decide to publish information that has little/no public value regarding a non public issue, but rather provides an opportunity for gossip mongering by those with nothing better to do about a family’s private medical struggles.

  4. Right, RC…. because public people always want privacy, which is why they allow their spokespeople to confirm the news that they’re ill. Um, yeah.

  7. Thanks to Mr. Allen who’s tax dollars have built more schools, more streets, more fire stations that every asshole, far left looney on Slogger here…..and then some.

    God speed and get well soon.

  12. @12: No, RC is dumb. Not like slobbering-out-the-side-of-his-mouth dumb, but dumb in the sense of picking dumb fights in dumb places. He clearly hates himself and uses this site to distract himself from that fact and the pain it entails.

  14. I hope Mr. Allen gets well.

    BTW, I like 52-80. He makes me laugh, but I agree that he can be both wicked and rude. But, then can’t we all…

  15. Yeah, @13, you’re probably right about that. 5280 is rude, but he redeems himself regularly enough that I can’t take it too seriously. I get the feeling that I probably wouldn’t mind him too much in person. But RC I would not like. He has no redemptive qualities at all.

    Anyway. I feel bad for anyone who has to deal with cancer. Hope to see your yacht in the harbour this summer, Paul.

  16. I hope his treatment succeeds, for he is a longtime favorite whipping boy of mine.

    That said, if his (super-successful) treatment leads to hair loss, instead of wrapping a Bret Michaels neckerchief around his head he might try different wig shapes and heights – it’s his chance to loosen up and finally solve his deeply troubling look. For the sake of the healthy decades of throwing his weight around to come.

    Speaking of which: any chance the timing made this “leak” today serve as handy political stool-softener for yesterday’s McGinn announcement of a bunch of Vulcans as transition advisers? Yeah, kind of a stretch, didn’t think so.

  19. I don’t have a dog in this fight, but P.A. if you or any of your minions are monitoring SLOG, you should definitely hie your ass the few blocks over to Fred Hutch/SCCA – best in the biz vis-a-vis cancer treatment.

  20. The blood cancers notoriously can come back, usually as a different one. I had a friend who survived three bouts with Hodgkins, but sadly not a fourth.

    She grew up in a National Sacrifice Zone, though, while Allen’s pretty much spent his life in Washington state. Are there any radiation zones besides Hanford?

  22. I really dislike almost all of what this public nuisance has committed to all of us over the years, but even so, wish him a full and speedy recovery.

  23. I was pretty much laid off on account of that guy’s orders (indirectly), so meh…. Fuck him. I’m not joining the “Oh, life’s so precious, Love thine enemies” brigade around here. There’s too many humans on the planet and when an ass-sucking bastard gets it (as opposed to random 5-year-old girls), the angels sing.
    –

  24. Oh hey, as to the “his taxes pay for (etc etc)” guy, what percent of his income did he pay for those things? Same as me? Less? Not fair. If I get lymphoma, I’m dead as a fucking duck, guaranteed. No health insurance, and even if I did, it wouldn’t cover that enough to save me. So fuck Paul Allen straight in his cancer-ridden ass.

  26. @26 is correct – most billionaires pay a total tax burden of between 8 and 10 percent of their total income.

    You, on the other hand, in this state and this city, pay about 4 times that as a percent of your income.

    (note – I include ALL INCOME, taxable or not)

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