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Ross Perot Has Died

cnbc.com

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Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#11

Post by twoodfin »

gdubs wrote: post #2

Many remember Perot as the goofy rich guy who ran for president in 92, but what many don’t know is that he funded NeXT computer - Steve Jobs’ post-Apple venture that was later acquired by Apple and transformed computing for the next decade. Interface Builder and the NextStep core libraries were arguably one of the biggest catalysts of the iPhone App ecosystem. In many ways iOS exists because of NeXT. So while it was…

I was curious enough to play out how much that chunk ended up being worth.

Perot reportedly acquired 16% of NeXT for his $20M investment[1].

I don't know the details of the cash/stock split but Apple ultimately acquired NeXT for $350M after paying off its debts[2]. That's $56M for Perot if he maintained that 16% stake.

If he kept it all in Apple stock (unlikely I know, but fun to play this out) he'd have had about 2.3 million shares of Apple at the time. AAPL has split 28X since then[3], so if he held it, today he'd own 64.4 million shares. Total present-day value, not counting significant dividends in the meantime: $12.9 billion.

Really, it doesn't matter if he kept it. By the uncaring math of Wall Street, that $20M investment ultimately generated $12.9 billion worth of value.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/30/business/company-news-per...

[2] https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-acquires-next-jobs/

[3] https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/10/apples-stock-split...

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#13

Post by refurb »

sequoia wrote: post #8
mberning wrote: post #5

Ross Perot was way ahead of his time. We are finally getting an idea of how terrible some of these deals have been. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/perot-in-1992-...

This debate footage is so remarkable to watch in 2019, for several reasons. 1: They allowed a third party candidate in a general debate 2: The candidate is able to take breaths & even pause without someone cutting jumping in, allowing him to make an complete point 3: No one is talking over him while he talks. Sure the candidates are tougher to manage in 2019 (especially after Trump changed the game in '16), but the d…

Ross Perot was a very significant third party candidate, which makes his appearance on the debates much more understandable.

Ross got 19% of the popular vote in '92, which was just shy of half of what Clinton and Bush got. Pretty remarkable showing honestly. Most 3rd party candidates never get more than a few percent.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#14

Post by microtherion »

twoodfin wrote: post #11
gdubs wrote: post #2

Many remember Perot as the goofy rich guy who ran for president in 92, but what many don’t know is that he funded NeXT computer - Steve Jobs’ post-Apple venture that was later acquired by Apple and transformed computing for the next decade. Interface Builder and the NextStep core libraries were arguably one of the biggest catalysts of the iPhone App ecosystem. In many ways iOS exists because of NeXT. So while it was…

I was curious enough to play out how much that chunk ended up being worth. Perot reportedly acquired 16% of NeXT for his $20M investment[1]. I don't know the details of the cash/stock split but Apple ultimately acquired NeXT for $350M after paying off its debts[2]. That's $56M for Perot if he maintained that 16% stake. If he kept it all in Apple stock (unlikely I know, but fun to play this out) he'd have had about 2.…

That assumes that NeXT did not undergo any dilution post-1987. Not sure this was the case — IIRC, they had to raise several more rounds of investment.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#15

Post by baud147258 »

secfirstmd wrote: post #9

If you are looking for a contrast with a typical tech bro modern day CEO leadership I highly recommend the book "On wings of Eagles." It describes Ross Perots efforts to gather a mix of staff and hired guns to go into Iran and break some of his staff out of prison during the Iranian Revolution. They actually succeeded. Partly crazy, partly courageous...only in America!

I remember reading that book. In the end, I don't think they had to break people out of prison, but they still successfully extracted his staff from Iran

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#16

Post by drfuchs »

I chanced to be next to him in line for the buffet at the big NeXT unveiling event at SF’s Davies Hall and chatted briefly with him. Nobody seemed to be aware of who / what he was at the time. I wonder how many zillionaire investors are semi-anonymous these days.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#17

Post by josho »

sequoia wrote: post #8
mberning wrote: post #5

Ross Perot was way ahead of his time. We are finally getting an idea of how terrible some of these deals have been. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/perot-in-1992-...

This debate footage is so remarkable to watch in 2019, for several reasons. 1: They allowed a third party candidate in a general debate 2: The candidate is able to take breaths & even pause without someone cutting jumping in, allowing him to make an complete point 3: No one is talking over him while he talks. Sure the candidates are tougher to manage in 2019 (especially after Trump changed the game in '16), but the d…

I no longer watch debates because I've realized that the broadcasters prefer the format you mentioned. They prefer it because it's more entertaining and that drives ratings which drives revenue.

The media conglomerates are not interested in substantive policy discussions.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#18

Post by uses »

What a quaint time when the oddball outsider candidate was a mentally stable human being calmly explaining ideas in a way anybody could understand.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#19

Post by thomasjudge »

fdavison wrote: post #12

None of what I've read today on his passing have mentioned this interesting story of the rescue of his employees from Iran during the revolution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Wings_of_Eagles A mini-series was produced about it starring Burt Lancaster

I enjoyed the book, never saw the tv program, although I also just found this counter-narrative: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-07-09-920302...

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#20

Post by protomyth »

You can call him "goofy", but he was anything but. I got to watch him give a speech in Fargo during the 92 campaign and it was amazing. At the time, I got into the habit of reading each candidates "book" they put out during the election. His was short, to the point, and very specific on what needed fixing. He was a serious man that ran into the establishment and got hammered.
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