American super-achiever, a bantam-sized Texas billionaire in the industries of computer, aero-space, bio-tech and hi-tech fields. He built Electronic Data Systems in Dallas into the multi-million dollar business that it is. With his financial skill and expertise, he was appointed by Governor White in mid-1983 to chair a select committee on public education to make recommendations for a comprehensive reform.
During the Vietnam war, Perot flew food and supplies to North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners but Hanoi could not deliver the shipment. He had two of his employees rescued from Iran after the Ayatollah took over. In his book, “On Wings of Eagles,” he tells this story, which was later made into a TV miniseries. Though he portrayed himself as a man of action and a hero, critics say that he actually got in the way of American diplomatic efforts to safeguard thousands of other Americans in the chaos, and owed embassy workers a debt of gratitude for his own safety, instead of the contempt with which he treated them.
Born into humble circumstances, a country-boy son of a cotton broker and a housewife, Ross had one older sister. As a boy, he managed to get himself an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis where he was president of the class and a battle commander during his four years in the Navy. When he first entered the navy, he said they gave him two pairs of shoes and he “wondered what the other pair was for. That was my first example of government waste.”
Perot married Margot Birmingham, whom he’d met on a blind date, in 1956, and they had five kids. A genuine family man, he gave generous credit to Margot. “Five out of my five kids are too good to be true, thanks to their mother,” he said, “She is a world class mother.” The family members were all close, a handsome batch. Ross Jr, born in 1959, handled the real estate holding of the Perot Group; Nancy, born in 1961, worked for dad in the venture-capitol department; Suzanne, born in 1965, worked at Christie’s auction house in New York City; along with Caroline, born in 1968 and Katherine in 1971. A passel of grandkids carried on the Perot “get the job done” standard.
After leaving the navy, Perot became a salesman for IBM and his wife taught school. They lived on his salary and saved hers and when Ross decided to start his own company in 1962, he had $1,000 savings to invest into Electronic Data Systems. He spun that original investment into gold; six years later when EDS went public, he was suddenly worth $220 million. When he sold his company to General Motors, it was worth about $12 billion.
Perot ran as a Reform Party candidate for Presidency for two elections, in 1992 and 1996, putting in large amounts of his own money for TV coverage. In the latter contest, on 24 October 1996, Robert Dole asked him to withdraw in order to harvest more votes for the Republican party and he fired back that he was in the race “until the bitter end.” A man who played by his own rules, he was quoted as saying, “If I could run for king, I would do it.”
Since the late 1990s, Perot was largely silent on political issues, refusing to answer most questions from the press. When interviewed, he usually remained on the subject of his business career and refused to answer specific questions on politics, candidates, or his past activities.
However, he endorsed Republican George W. Bush over Reform nominee Pat Buchanan in the 2000 election and supported Republican Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012. In 2009, Dell acquired Perot Systems for $3.9 billion. According to Forbes, Perot was the 167th richest person in the United States in 2016.
Perot died on 9 July 2019, after a battle with leukemia, in Dallas, Texas, aged 89.
Link to Wikipedia biography