Jo Lynn "Jody" Allen (born February 3, 1959) is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She is the younger sister of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and served as the chief executive officer of his investment and project management company, Vulcan Inc., from its founding in 1986 until 2015.[1][2] She is also the co-founder and president of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.[3]
In 1986, Allen co-founded Vulcan Inc. with her brother to manage their family's business and charitable endeavors.[2] Vulcan's former chief financial officer described her as being "responsible for having the trains run on time" and said she had "a particular passion for real estate development, building things in general."[13]
She currently serves as vice-chair of First & Goal Inc., which oversees operations of the Seattle Seahawks.[2] She was involved in negotiating the public-private partnership that led to the construction of Lumen Field in Seattle, and was an adviser to her brother when he first considered buying the Seahawks.[14][15] In 1997, a Seattle reporter wrote: "Jody Patton thought buying the Seahawks was a great idea; thus was born Allen's efforts to acquire the team and build a new football stadium."[15]
During her career Allen also supervised construction of the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, renovation of the Seattle Cinerama, and also helped bring the EMP Museum (now the Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP) to Seattle.[11] She is also president of Vulcan Productions, a company that produces films, digital programs, and outreach initiatives, and has produced or executive-produced more than a dozen documentaries and feature films.[16][17] In 2013, she signed on as a backer of two documentaries, the Richard E. Robbins-directed film Girl Rising and the nuclear power documentary Pandora's Promise.[18][19]
Controversies
In 2013, five of her former security guards accused her of sexual harassment, and extensive unethical activity, including bribing customs officials to smuggle animal bones out of Africa and Antarctica.[20] The lawsuits were eventually settled out of court.[21]
Philanthropy
Allen co-founded the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation in 1990.[3] Since then, the foundation has given more than $469 million in grants to over 1,400 nonprofit organizations.[22]
Allen is the president of the board of trustees of the Museum of Pop Culture, a nonprofit museum dedicated to pop culture and music.[3][23] The Seattle Times credited Allen with helping her brother make the museum a reality: "Although Allen gets most of the credit...it is the brainchild of both these close siblings. Allen provided the money and inspiration; Patton, as executive director, is largely responsible for the vision that made it happen."[11]
Allen has three children: Duncan (born 1989), Gardner (born 1994) and Faye (born 1997) with Brian Patton, whom she divorced in 2009 after 21 years of marriage.[8][11][26][27] Allen's ex-husband is a golf-course manager.[27][28] She was known as Jody Patton, Jody Allen Patton and Jo Allen Patton while married.[11][29][30]
^Borsook, Paulina (August 1, 1994). "The Accidental Zillionaire". Wired. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via www.wired.com.
