Perot was born and raised in Dallas. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1977. As a high school student, he won world championships in Tennessee Walking Horse competitions. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, he served in the United States Air Force for eight and half years. He then served as chairman of the Air Force Memorial Foundation where he led the effort to build the United States Air Force Memorial in Washington, DC. From 2002-2003, Perot served as chairman of the Texas Governor’s Task Force for Economic Growth and currently serves on the board of the East-West Institute and the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations.
In March 2007, former Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romney, seeking the Republican nod for U.S. President in 2008, announced that H. Ross Perot, Jr. would serve as a member of his Texas statewide finance committee.He is amongst the wealthiest Texans of all time. Forbes having reported his net worth of over 1.5 Billion dollars, Perot has committed millions to charities worldwide. A leader and philanthropist in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, with particular notriety for having established businesses outside of his father's original technology conglomerate, Perot has aggressively expanded family fortunes.. After selling Perot Systems to Dell Inc., Perot was selected to be on the board of Dell shortly after. He resides in Dallas with his wife, and four children.
Aviation
H. Ross Perot Jr. (along with Jay Coburn) piloted the first ever round-the-world helicopter flight. In a Bell 206 L-1 Long Ranger II, the Spirit of Texas, they completed the circumnavigation on September 30, 1982. Their journey began 29 days, 3 hours, and 8 minutes earlier on September 1. Their trip began and ended in Fort Worth, Texas. Perot and Coburn flew with full navigation equipment, survival gear, and emergency items. Also added were pop-out floats and a 151-gallon auxiliary fuel tank in place of the rear seat. An additional five hours’ endurance was added to enable the Spirit of Texas to fly eight hours without refueling.
The Spirit of Texas made its last landing at Andrews Air Force Base on November 15, 1982. From there, it was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum for display, and later it was donated by H. Ross Perot to become a permanent part of the National Aeronautical Collection.
Henry Ross Perot, Jr. (b.1958) is a real estate developer and Chairman of the Board of Perot Systems. The only son of Ross Perot, Perot has aggressively expanded the family fortunes, primarily through real estate. He became independently prominent in the 1980s through his development and ownership of Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the surrounding area (Circle T Ranch and residential community of Heritage), a massive project that was heavily funded by governmental grants but which helped make Perot a powerful force within Texas. This early success also empowered Perot to gain majority ownership of the Dallas MavericksNBA basketball team, a decision that was largely based on Perot's desire to develop the real estate that surrounded the basketball arena. This real estate eventually became Victory Park. His interest in the Mavericks has since been sold to Mark Cuban.
