5 things to know about Paul Allen and his Seahawks

Jan 21, 2015, 1:49pm PST Updated: Jan 21, 2015, 1:53pm PST SLUG: NFC-Championship-Packers@Seahawks Seattle Seahawks owner, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen stands out among National Football League team owners. Not only is he one of the top 50 richest people in the world, donating millions of dollars to philanthropy and scientific research, he is by far the wealthiest team owner in the NFL. Here are some things to know about Allen and his Seahawks: 1. Allen has a net worth of about $17 billion as of Jan. 21, according to Forbes. The next three wealthiest owners last year didn't even come close, even when you combine them. St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer are worth a combined $14.6 billion, according to CBS. Glazer died in 2014. 2. Allen bought the team in 1997 for $194 million from real estate developer Ken Behring. 3. The Seahawks are worth about $1.3 billion, less than the three other teams that played this past weekend in the NFC and AFC championship games. 4. Allen founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003 to better understand both the healthy and diseased human brain. In 2013, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation granted $2.4 million to a study to better understand traumatic brain injuries. That intersects with the issue of concussions, which is at the forefront of NFL news in recent years. 5. Allen also owns the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team and a minority stake in the Seattle Sounders soccer team. He owns an aerospace company called Stratolaunch Systems, is the real estate mogul behind Vulcan's development of South Lake Union (including Amazon's new skyscrapers there), funds the Experience Music Project museum at Seattle Center and owns the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. written by Annie Zak who covers the health care and biotechnology industries.