Henry Ross Perot Jr. (born November 7, 1958) is a real estate developer and American businessman who is best known for his development of Alliance, Texas, an inland port near Dallas–Fort Worth, and making the first circumnavigation of the world in a helicopter at the age of 23. Perot serves as the chairman for multiple companies including The Perot Group and Hillwood. He is the only son and eldest child of American billionaire businessman and former United States presidential candidate

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indepe ...

Early life

Perot was born and raised in Dallas, the son of Margot (née Birmingham) and Ross Perot. He graduated from

St. Mark's School of Texas The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys in grades 1–12 in Dallas, Texas, United States, accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. History St. Mark's traces its origins to the T ...

in 1977. After graduating from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, he served in the United States Air Force for eight and a half years.

Career

In 1982 Perot co-piloted the first flight by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

around the world.Speed around the world. Eastbound. Class E-1d (Helicopters: take off weight 1750 to 3000 kg)
".

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintain ...

(FAI). Note search under E-1 Helicopters and "Speed over a recognised course". Accessed: 21 September 2014. Using a

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter prog ...

L-1 Long Ranger II, Perot completed the circumnavigation on September 30, 1982. SpiritofTexas

Perot serves as chairman of The Perot Group, which manages the various Perot family interests that include real estate, oil and gas, and financial investments. He developed the

Fort Worth Alliance Airport Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport is a public airport north of the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The airport is owned by the City of Fort Worth and managed by Alliance Air Services, a subsidiary of Hillw ...

and is a large real estate developer. Hillwood's residential division, is building Harvest, a $1 billion, 1,150-acre development in Northlake and Argyle. Hillwood Communities recently kicked off developments including the 1006.5 acres development Pomona in Manvel, TX and the 787-acre Union Park in Little Elm. From 2002 to 2003, Perot served as chairman of the Texas Governor's Task Force for Economic Growth. In March 2007, presidential candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...

, seeking the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

nomination selected Perot as a member of his Texas finance committee. Perot was a member of the Board of Directors for

Dell Inc Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data s ...

. Perot is a board member of Guide IT. He is Chairman of the United States Air Force Memorial Foundation and Co-Chairman of the EastWest Institute. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of St. Mark's School of Texas,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

, and Vanderbilt University. In 2010 ''Forbes'' reported Perot's net worth at $1.5 Billion. Perot was the 1983 recipient of the

Langley Gold Medal The Langley Gold Medal, or Samuel P. Langley Medal for Aerodromics, is an award given by the Smithsonian Institution for outstanding contributions to the sciences of aeronautics and astronautics. Named in honor of Samuel P. Langley, the Smithson ...

from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

.. In April 2020, Governor

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

named Perot to the Strike Force to Open Texas – a group "tasked with finding safe and effective ways to slowly reopen the state" amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Dallas Mavericks ownership

Perot purchased the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. Th ...

NBA basketball team from original owner Don Carter in March

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

. Under his four-year tenure, the Mavericks made no more progress on the court than they had in Carter's final seasons, and nowhere near what they would do under his successor,

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

. It was said that he was a basketball novice, or disinterested in the sport and was using his position as team owner to front his projects, most notably Victory Park, which was anchored by the

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas St ...

which opened in 2001. He sold the team to Cuban in January 2000 and the franchise did not have a losing season in any of the subsequent fifteen seasons, winning two Western Conference championships and the 2011 NBA championship. In May 2010, Perot, who retained 5 percent ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the

2011 NBA Finals The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games to win thei ...

. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the

. Perot retains a minority stake in the team, as does his predecessor Carter's estate.

Honors

* In 1982, President Ronald Reagan presented Perot with the Gold Medal Award for Extraordinary Service. * In 1983, Perot was the recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. * In 2007, Perot was the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. * In 2007, Perot was the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. * In 2008, Perot and his father, H. Ross Perot, jointly received the H. Neil Mallon Award presented by the World Affairs Council - Dallas/Fort Worth. * In 2012, Perot was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor. * In 2019, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) bestowed its 2019 Meritorious Service to Aviation Award to Perot. * In 2022, the

National Eagle Scout Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

awarded him the

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years aft ...

References

External links