Ross Perot, billionaire and former presidential candidate, dies at 89

(Image credit: PAUL RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

published 9 July 2019

Ross Perot, a billionaire pioneer in the computer services industry and a two-time independent candidate for U.S. president, died on Tuesday after a five-month battle with leukemia, The Dallas Morning News reports. He was 89.

Perot, who was born into depression-era poverty, became one the richest people in United States after founding Electronic Data Systems Corp.

In 1992, Perot ran for president as an independent against incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush and his Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. Clinton eventually won the election, but Perot garnered a shocking 19 percent of the popular vote — at the time, it had been 80 years since a third-party candidate performed so well in a presidential election. Perot ran again in 1996, albeit with less success.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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