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Ross Perot Has Died

cnbc.com

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Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#191

Post by brighter2morrow »

twoodfin wrote: post #21
uses wrote: post #18

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

"Mentally stable" does not really capture the American electorate's impression of Perot's candidacy in 1992. He was significantly damaged by his choice to drop out for a few weeks in the middle of the summer—while leading in the polls!—blaming shadowy Republican operatives for threatening his daughter's wedding.

>"Mentally stable" does not really capture the American electorate's impression of Perot's candidacy in 1992.

Don't mix up the American people with the Mainstream media

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#192

Post by mieseratte »

viburnum wrote: post #170

IIRC he was the only CEO to end equal benefits to gay and lesbian employees (Perot Systems started when he stepped away and ended it when he came back).

For the curious:

> https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/10/us/perot-ends-benefits-fo...

> In an interview, Mr. Perot, chairman of Perot Systems, said his decision only reflected his fear that heterosexuals would falsely claim committed relationships to win these benefits.

Would be interesting to hear if he has other known slights against LGBT or if he truly hates loopholes.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#193

Post by RickJWagner »

I like Ross Perot, enough to have voted for him in '92.

A few favorites:

- He used his own money to finance rescue missions for EDS employees caught overseas in unfriendly situations.

- He was sort of a cartoon-ish character,short of stature and with over-sized ears. In one of his presidential debates I remember him making the comment "I'm all ears!", cracking himself up with the rest of us.

RIP, Mr. Perot

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#194

Post by RickJWagner »

coupdejarnac wrote: post #142

My dad was a programmer at EDS for a short time before the Iran incident. Dad has a great deal of respect for Perot- Perot was quite the role model and practiced what he preached. He was also very approachable. Dad looks kindly on the times he had short but friendly interactions with Perot on the elevator or wherever around EDS. Dad was slated to join the Iran contract, but he decided being a programmer was not for h…

That's awesome. I started in Tech in 1990, I remember stories about Perot and EDS. An incredible time in the business. (Also, the 'must wear a suit' era, which I believe Perot was big on.)

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#196

Post by chiph »

adventured wrote: post #139
B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDS - a large company in the 1990s - should also get a mention: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems

And Perot Systems, which was sold for $3.9 billion to Dell. It had 20,000 employees and $2.8 billion in revenue by 2008, before the acquisition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perot_Systems

The Perovians were known to out-IBM IBM in terms of company culture. They all had short hair, no beards or mustaches, and a freshly starched shirt.

From what I heard, they generally did a good job for their customers. Unlike the Big Five accounting firms, who would only run up your laser printer toner bill.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#197

Post by chiph »

SubiculumCode wrote: post #86

I believe I was around 18 when I heard of Ross Perot. At the time I had been impressed by the charts and no-nonsense approach, although now I realize I could not have judged their content with any actual knowledge. As I know a lot more about the world now, about debt, fiat currencies, and inflation, etc, and how charts can be constructed to not represent reality but one's agenda, beliefs, or misconceptions, I wonder…

Here's his second infomercial. Complete with flip charts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIVI0CbCmg

Pretty much every topic he brings up is still relevant today.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#198

Post by rayiner »

kevmo wrote: post #167
basch wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when the Chicago Tribune thought it was Buzzfeed, I dont think they liked him. "26 REASONS WHY ROSS PEROT DOESN`T DESERVE YOUR VOTE" https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-10-08-920401...

The Chicago Tribune is not a good newspaper.

The Trib is a fantastic newspaper what are you talking about.

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#199

Post by [deleted] »

patrickthebold wrote: post #189
nostrademons wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting how much of that happened post-acquisition, though. Holding NeXT from 1987 - 1996 = max 3x return. Holding AAPL from 1996-present = 340x return. This return was available to ordinary people on the public stock markets, too - if you were an average Joe who put $60K into Apple in 1996, you would now have Ross Perot's initial $20M investment sitting in your pocket.

I get your point, but let's take a minute to remind ourselves that the average person does not have 60k lying around to invest.

[deleted]

Re: Ross Perot Has Died

#200

Post by Perceval »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #172
influx wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say he was right: "We have got to stop sending jobs overseas. It's pretty simple: If you're paying $12, $13, $14 an hour for factory workers and you can move your factory South of the border, pay a dollar an hour for labor, ... have no health care—that's the most expensive single element in making a car— have no environmental controls, no pollution controls and no retirement, and you don't care about anything but…

The bill was left for Clinton to sign as a strategic move so that Republicans wouldn't get any blame for the bill that they crafted, enacted, and was supported by their man in the oval office who would have signed it too if he had won.

Clinton campaigned on signing NAFTA. It wasn't just dumped on him.
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