So DOS 2.0 was the most important Microsoft product to date and vital to cementing the company's relationship with its biggest customer, IBM. It was also by far the most complex product in Microsoft's young history, which again is why Paul Allen was put in charge. As development continued, Allen's health began to deteriorate, so much so that the IBM team was worried that Allen might not survive. "He looked like death," Sams told me. "But still they pushed him."
In the Boys' Club that was Microsoft in those days, maybe the concept of mortality was too abstract, maybe Allen's poor health wasn't as obvious to those around him every day as it was to the IBM team that visited from time to time. To his credit, Allen stayed long enough to finish the job, delivering DOS 2.0 then leaving the company forever, eventually to have a bone marrow transplant that cured him completely.
But during one of those last long nights of working to finish-up DOS 2.0, something happened. I have heard this story from two people, each of whom was a friend of Allen's and in a position to know. Each told me the same story the same way. I am not staking my reputation on the accuracy of the story, but I am saying I have it from two good sources. Paul Allen certainly won't confirm or deny it, so I'll just throw it out for you to consider.
During one of those last long nights working to deliver DOS 2.0 in early 1983, I am told that Paul Allen heard Gates and Ballmer discussing his health and talking about how to get his Microsoft shares back if Allen were to die.
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