MYNORTHWEST BLOG

New low: Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant blasts Paul Allen

Oct 16, 2018, 2:37 PM | Updated: 4:53 pm

Kshama Sawant...

Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Not even 24 hours since the news of his death and Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant blasted Paul Allen for being rich.

Sawant posted on Facebook Tuesday morning:

“Paul Allen was known as a philanthropist. He spent $250 million on the biggest yacht in the world in 2003; he also owned two more yachts and a fleet of private jets, several sports teams. He paid to put the Qwest Field on the ballot so that working people picked up most of the $425M tab. He spent half a million dollars to defeat the I-1098 Tax the Rich statewide initiative in 2010.”

It’s not uncommon for Sawant. She went after both Senator John McCain and former First Lady Barbara Bush mere hours after they had passed away.

Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of the Seattle Seahawks, among other things, is probably best known for his philanthropy. He publicly pledged to give away most of his fortune.

Forbes‘ quote of the day on Tuesday is from Allen: “Our net worth is ultimately defined not by dollars but rather by how well we serve others.”

According to Forbes, Allen donated $55 million to the University of Washington, $26 million to Washington State University, and the hundreds of millions it took to develop the Allen Institute of Brain Science. Forbes estimates Allen gave $2.6 billion to funds that protect the planet, Ebola research, education, arts, wildlife, and intelligence research.

RELATED: Pete Carroll says Paul Allen was ‘bigger than life’
RELATED: What Paul Allen meant to the Seahawks franchise
PHOTOS: Remembering Paul Allen through the years

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