Paul Allen

Even billionaires can lose a lot of money. Cnet News investigates the lackluster investment track record of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, pointing out recent failures such as Charter Communications as well as some old doozies such as Metricom.

"For Allen, the Charter Communications, RCN, and Metricom bankruptcy filings speak volumes regarding his wired world strategy, one which he may increasingly want to disconnect," writes reporter Dawn Kawamoto. Contrast that with a 1999 Cnet story titled "Allen's 'wired world' starts to come together."

The fact is, Allen gave up on the wired world long ago. You rarely hear anyone associated with his private investment firm, Vulcan, talking about the strategy. And I couldn't find one mention of the phrase on the firm's Web site. It appears that Allen -- with holdings in real estate, oil and financial services (all non-wired stuff) -- has moved on for the most part.

Although the story notes that Paul Allen's ranking on the Forbes list of billionaires has fallen in recent years, it also points out some of his successes. What were those?

A few notable hits include Plains All American Pipelines, Oxygen Media and DreamWorks SKG -- none of which are pure technology companies.

Allen has had a tough 12 months. Charter, one of his largest investments, is melting down. The Seattle Seahawks, which he owns, were plain awful last season. And Allen -- who underwent an undisclosed medical procedure last October -- even had to cut back on staff at Vulcan last month.

Can't a billionaire catch a break these days? Well, at least he can sail away from his problems on the Octopus.