Ross Perot, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who ran for president twice during the 1990s, has died at age 89, after a five-month battle with leukemia. He was at his home in Dallas, Texas surrounded by his family.
Henry Ray Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas to the former Lula May Ray and Gabriel Ross Perot. As a teenager, he changed his middle name to Ross. He attended Texarkana Junior College and the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1956, he married Pennsylvania native Margot Birmingham. After serving in the Navy, he worked for IBM as a salesman. In 1962, he founded Electronic Data Systems, which he would sell to General Motors in 1984 for $2.4 billion.
In 1979, after the government of Iran imprisoned two of his EDS employees, Perot organized a successful rescue attempt. In 1984, he bought a copy of Magna Carta is still on display at the Natonal Archives. In 1988, he founded Perot Systems Corporation, Inc., which he later sold to Dell for $3.9 billion. He was heavily involved in the issue of Vietnam era POWs and MIAs, and would oppose the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
In 1992, Perot ran for president as an independent, receiving almost 19 percent of the popular vote, but no electoral votes, managing to finish second in two states. In 1996, after forming the Reform Party, he ran for president a second time, garnering about 8 percent of the popular vote. Politically, he had some left-wing views, such as supporting abortion and gay rights.
Perot is survived by his wife, their five children, and 16 grandchildren.
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