Martin Allen (entrepreneur)

Martin A. Allen (1931–2009) was the chairman,^[1] co-founder,^[2] president,^[3] and largest individual stockholder (2,272,866 shares) of Computervision Corp. Its first product, CADDS-1, was aimed at the printed circuit layout, and 2-D drafting markets.

Career

Computervision Corp.

Martin (Marty) A. Allen co-founded Computervision Corp. in 1969 with Philippe Villers in Boston, MA. In 1980 he led an effort to create the first Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), build to handle 2-D and 3-D modeling.^[4]

Retirement

Allen netted $34 million when, at age 57, he sold Computervision Corp. to Prime Computer Inc. on 29 January 1988.^[5][6]

Early life and education

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Allen was raised in California.^[7] He attended the University of California, Berkeley and obtained a degree in engineering.^[7]

References

1. McClellan, Stephen T. (1984). The coming computer industry shakeout : winners, losers, and survivors. New York: Wiley. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-471-88063-9. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
2. Garfield, Charles (1987). Peak performers: the new heroes of American business. New York, N.Y.: Avon Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-380-70304-3. Retrieved 10 February 2011. martin allen.
3. Venture Capital Journal. Capital Publishing Corporation. 1981.
4. "Computervision - CADHistory". 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
5. Jane Fitz Simon (29 January 1988). "FOR COMPUTERVISION'S ALLEN, IT WAS A REWARDING BIRTHDAY". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2011. Martin Allen will not soon forget his 57th birthday On that day he decided to sell his company to Prime Computer Inc and went home $34 million richer...
6. Times, Special to the New York (1988-01-29). "Computervision-Prime Deal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
7. "Martin A. Allen's Obituary on Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2018-04-20.