WALL STREET: Perot the Evangelist

Every good and excellent thing stands moment by moment on the razor's edge of danger, and must be fought for. —Words engraved on a plaque outside H. Ross Perot's Dallas office

Perot, the son of an East Texas cotton and cattle trader, apparently genuinely believes that philosophy. In 1962 he quit a safe job as an IBM computer salesman to work for Blue Cross-Blue Shield and to start his own computer software company, Electronic Data Systems. By 1969 it had grown enough to make Perot a billionaire at the age of 39. That left...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!