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. She is also the co-founder and president of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Following the death of her brother in October 2018, Allen was named executor and trustee of his estate, pursuant to his instructions, giving her responsibility for overseeing the execution of his will and settling his affairs with tax authorities and parties with an interest in his projects. Among some of the properties she took control of upon his death were the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Octopus super-yacht, and the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), along with minority ownership of the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).

Early life and education Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, on February 3, 1959, the daughter of schoolteacher Edna Faye ( Gardner) AllenMaureen O'Hagan, Faye Allen, mother of Microsoft co-founder, dies at 90 , The Seattle Times, June 3, 2012 and Kenneth Sam Allen, an associate director of the University of Washington Libraries. Her older brother Paul went on to become co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.William Plummer, Paul Allen: Rich and Reclusive, Microsoft's Other Cofounder Goes Hollywood , People, June 19, 1995 She grew up in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood and graduated from Lakeside School in 1975. She studied drama at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and was a member of the class of 1980.

Career In 1986, Allen co-founded Vulcan Inc. with her brother to manage their family's business and charitable endeavors. 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."

She currently serves as vice-chair of First & Goal Inc., which oversees operations of the Seattle Seahawks. 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.Brier Dudley, Seahawks Sign Lease For 30 Years At New Stadium, The Seattle Times, September 25, 1998Linda Keene, The Enigmatic Paul Allen -- Everyone Knows What He Does, But Few Really Know Who He Is, The Seattle Times, June 11, 1997 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."

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.Melanie McFarland and Patrick MacDonald, The EMP has been 'long, major journey', The Seattle Times, June 23, 2000 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. 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.Rebecca Ford, 'Girl Rising' Picked Up by Regal Cinemas for Weeklong Engagement , The Hollywood Reporter, April 5, 2013Kerry A. Dolan, Why Billionaire Paul Allen Backed Pro-Nuclear Power Film Pandora's Promise , Forbes, June 14, 2013

On July 11, 2026, Allen announced her acceptance to sell her ownership of the Seahawks for $9.612 billion from Neeru Khosla and her investment group. Sale of Allen's ownership of the team was finalized on September 3, 2026.

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.Levi Pulkkinen, Bodyguards: Vulcan CEO Allen tried to smuggle bones out of Africa , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 28, 2013 The lawsuits were eventually settled out of court.

Philanthropy Allen co-founded the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation in 1990. Since then, the foundation has given more than $1 billion in grants to over 1,400 nonprofit organizations.

Allen is the president of the board of trustees of the Museum of Pop Culture, a nonprofit museum dedicated to pop culture and music. 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."

With her brother, Allen co-founded the Seattle-based non-profit organization Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003, of which she serves as chairman of the board. The Institute provides free online public resources to scientists around the world. Other boards on which she has served include those of the Seahawks Charitable Foundation, ArtsFund, the Theatre Communications Group, the University of Washington Foundation, the Museum of Glass, the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Personal life Allen has three children with Brian Patton, whom she divorced in 2009 after 21 years of marriage. Allen's ex-husband is a golf-course manager. She was known as Jody Patton, Jody Allen Patton and Jo Allen Patton while married.

She is a member of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Explorers Club.

, Allen lives on Mercer Island, Washington.Mike Rogoway, Trail Blazers, Vulcan look ahead as Paul Allen faces cancer , The Oregonian, November 21, 2009

Filmography

Executive producer Men with Guns (1997) The Luzhin Defence (2000) The Safety of Objects (2001) The Soul of a Man (2003) The Blues (2003) Lightning in a Bottle (2004) Hard Candy (2005) American Masters: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006) Where God Left His Shoes (2007) Girl Rising (2013) Pandora's Promise (2013) We The Economy (2014)

Producer Inspirations (1997) Me & Isaac Newton (1999) Titus (1999) Coastlines (2002) Far from Heaven (2002)

References

External links