Paul Allen named in Paradise Papers leak

Seahawks owner Paul Allen greets NFL Hall of Fame member and former Seahawk Kenny Easley as his number is retired during halftime of the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts at CenturyLink Field on October 1, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) less Seahawks owner Paul Allen greets NFL Hall of Fame member and former Seahawk Kenny Easley as his number is retired during halftime of the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts at CenturyLink ... more Photo: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images Photo: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Paul Allen named in Paradise Papers leak 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Microsoft co-founder and Seahawks owner Paul Allen was among the notable figures named in the release of the leaked Paradise Papers Sunday.

In addition to the 64-year-old Allen, the cache of 13.4 million confidential documents outlined the offshore investment agreements of luminaries around the world, ranging from England's Queen Elizabeth to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Madonna to Paul Hewson (aka Bono from U2).

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The documents "show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants," according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The documents were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, then shared with ICIJ and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries.

Allen's mentions in the documents seem to be limited to details about his yachts and submarines, and he did not reply to ICIJ's request for comment.

The documents show how the world's uber-rich funnel their money to smaller nations, many of them islands, in order to avoid paying taxes.

"Tax havens are one of the key engines of the rise in global inequality," economist Gabriel Zucman told The Guardian. "As inequality rises, offshore tax evasion is becoming an elite sport."

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.