Ross Perot Biography

Ross Perot was a successful American businessman who became one of the wealthiest people in the world after Dell acquired his company, Perot Systems. This Texas billionaire was, however, most popularly known for being an independent candidate in the 1992 and 1996 U.S. presidential elections. In the 1992 election, he won nearly 19 percent of the votes—more than any independent candidate in history since Theodore Roosevelt. Perot played an active role in public affairs and presided over several rescue missions and prisoner negotiations during the Iranian Revolution. He also fervently opposed the Gulf War and criticized the George H. W. Bush administration. Born into a modest family, he worked various odd jobs from the age of seven. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he served in the Navy for four years. After being discharged, he worked as a salesman for IBM, where he excelled by meeting his annual sales target in just two weeks. Perot had strong faith in Steve Jobs even before Jobs founded Apple and served as an angel investor in his company.