In late 2012 his Vulcan Real Estate sold to Amazon the 12-building campus the online retailer had been leasing in downtown Seattle.

FORBES: Paul Allen

Other e-tailers cite the high cost - some five to 10 times higher than in the U.S. - of leasing Net connections and maintaining "server" computers for managing online transactions.

CNN: THE E-TAIL REVOLUTION

Google has shown no interest in leasing out its vast infrastructure, but it is challenging Microsoft with a suite of online applications akin to Office.

FORBES: Magazine Article