Ross Perot: Founder of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems

Ross Perot: Founder of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems

Business Owner · Information Technology

Plano

Ross Perot left IBM to found Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold a controlling stake to GM for $2.4 billion in 1984 and ran independent campaigns for president in 1992 and 1996.

About Ross Perot: Founder of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems

Henry Ross Perot (June 27, 1930 to July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist, the founder and chief executive of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an independent campaign in the 1992 US presidential election and a third-party campaign in 1996 as the Reform Party nominee, a party formed by grassroots supporters of his 1992 campaign; though he failed to carry a single state in either race, both were among the stronger presidential showings by a third-party or independent candidate in US history. Born and raised in Texarkana, Texas, Perot became an IBM salesman after serving in the US Navy. In 1962 he founded Electronic Data Systems, a data processing service company, and in 1984 General Motors bought a controlling interest in it for $2.4 billion, or $6.1 billion in 2024 dollars. He established Perot Systems in 1988 and was an angel investor in NeXT, the computer company Steve Jobs founded after leaving Apple. He also became heavily involved in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, arguing that hundreds of American servicemen were left behind in Southeast Asia after the war. Sources: English Wikipedia (Ross Perot, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Founder, Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems (1930-2019)

Company Details

Electronic Data Systems / Perot Systems

IT Services, Data Processing