Billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot dies at 89

Billionaire businessman, philanthropist and independent presidential candidate Ross Perot is dead at 89, CNBC has confirmed. Perot, who ran for president in 1992 and 1996, died after a five-month battle with leukemia, said James Fuller, a representative for the Perot family. "In business and in life, Ross was a man of integrity and action. A true American patriot and a man of rare vision, principle and deep compassion, he touched the lives of countless people through his unwavering support of the military and veterans and through his charitable endeavors," Fuller said in a statement. Perot is survived by his wife, Margot, his five children and 16 grandchildren.

This 1992 file photo shows presidential hopeful H. Ross Perot at a rally in Austin, Texas. AP

Perot was an early tech entrepreneur. He started his career in sales at IBM, where he excelled. In 1962, he founded his first company, Electronic Data Systems, with just $1,000 in savings. More than two decades later, he launched information technology services provider Perot Systems, which was acquired in 2009 by Dell for $3.9 billion. As a disruptive third-party candidate for president, Perot ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility and protectionism. He won nearly 19% of the vote in the 1992 race — by far the biggest slice of the electorate for a third-party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party in the 1912 election.

1968: American businessman H. Ross Perot holding a business machine manufactured by his company, Electronic Data Systems, Dallas, Texas. Shel Hershorn | Getty Images

Perot stood out from the political crowd for his quirks as much as his business credentials and lack of experience in establishment politics. "I don't have any experience in running up a $4 trillion debt. I don't have any experience in gridlock government, where nobody takes responsibility for anything and everybody blames everybody else," he said in a 1992 presidential debate. The shifting of U.S. jobs to Mexico created a "giant sucking sound," he famously said during the campaign. Perot participated in all three presidential debates in that election, and took a nontraditional campaign route by booking lengthy time slots on network television to lay out his political views. He was "certainly the most influential political force in the late 20th century from outside the regular party system," said Allan Lichtman, distinguished professor of history at American University. Lichtman told CNBC he had been tapped to write a biography of Perot, and Lichtman had agreed. But "quirky Ross Perot, just like he pulled out of the presidential race, he pulled out of the biography," Lichtman said. Perot was a veteran, and followed his service with a lifetime commitment to supporting U.S. veterans, especially during the Vietnam War. He was honored in 2009 by then-Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake for his advocacy efforts.

Presidential candidate Ross Perot speaks during the 1992 Presidential Debates. Wally McNamee | Corbis Historical | Getty Images