Paul Allen: New Age Media Mogul

Surely the third-richest man in America always travels in luxury and high style. But here is Paul G. Allen, with a fortune of about $8 billion, stuffing his large, ungainly frame into the back of a small, rattling van. He's on his way to a home game of his basketball team, the Portland Trail Blazers, and crammed in the van with him are his mom, his aunt and uncle, and his old college roommate. Throw in a journalist and a couple of other friends, and it's hardly a billionaire's power circle ready to dress up the floor seats.

Once at the Rose Garden, the high-tech $262 million arena Allen built for the Blazers, the team's owner takes his seat next to a basket and smiles shyly as he twice catches out-of-bounds balls. The Blazers go on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers. To celebrate, the Allen clan piles back into the van and heads for Powell's, a cavernous bookstore in a somewhat shabby Portland neighborhood. Allen and his family blissfully wander the stacks for a half hour. And what piques the interest of the co-founder of Microsoft Corp., the techno-wizard who put the backslash in DOS? Allen buys a movie magazine. "I'm fascinated by the entertainment industry. I read all I can to learn more about it," Allen explains as he crawls back into the van.