The last year hasn’t been easy on H. Ross Perot Jr., son of the former presidential candidate.
But his fortunes took a turn for the better this week when Dell Inc. agreed to pay top price for Perot Systems Corp., a business started by the elder Perot in 1988.
Perot Jr., 50, now serves as the chairman of Perot Systems, which Dell is buying for $3.9 billion, a price of $30 a share.
The deal brings together two Texas companies - Perot Systems is in Plano and Dell headquarters are near Austin - and makes Dell a player in the technology services market, in particular health services.
H. Ross Perot Jr.
According to The New York Times, Perot Systems already provides technology services to 1,000 hospitals and 200,000 doctors at a time when the federal government will be spending billions on the electronic storage of medical records.
Word of the deal has sent the price of Perot stock soaring from $17.50 a share on Friday to $29.56 at the opening of trading Wednesday.
Reports are that the sale could mean as much as $1 billion to the Perot family for its share of company stock.
As described by Perot Jr., the deal is a tribute to the persuasive powers of Michael S. Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Inc., as well as a Perot family friend.
“We had no interest in selling the company,” Perot told the Times. “Michael is a very good salesman. His vision got us excited and got my father excited.”
H. Ross Perot Sr., 79, a self-made billionaire who ran for president as an independent candidate in 1992 and 1996, serves as chairman emeritus of the Perot Systems board.
His son succeeded him as chairman in 2004. Prior to that, Perot Jr. had served as the company’s president and CEO for four years. He has been a member of the company’s board since its founding.
But the younger Perot had established his own mark in business with the Hillwood Development Corporation, a real estate and investment firm he began in 1988.
In one of its early projects, Hillwood developed the Fort Worth Alliance Airport, a successful industrial aviation venture combining the younger Perot’s interest in real estate with his longtime interest in flying.
After his graduation from Vanderbilt University in 1982, Perot and another pilot made the first around-the-world flight in a helicopter. In 1983, Perot enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and became a fighter pilot.
Hillwood also helped develop Victory Park, an area that includes the American Airlines Center arena, home to the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League.
Perot was the majority owner of the Mavericks from 1996 to 2000, when he sold his majority interest in the team to Mark Cuban for a reported $285 million.
Of late, Perot has not fared as well in the real estate and financial markets. The Wall Street Journal reports that the $2.5 billion hedge fund that managed the Perot family wealth went into liquidation last year. In April of this year, Hillwood forfeited its stake in Victory Park to a German company.
And in July, Hillwood sued Cuban for not sharing $50 million with his partners in the arena at Victory Park.
According to UPI, Cuban denied the allegations and accused Perot of “trying to find nickels in the sofa cushion” because of his financial losses.
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