Imagine the scene: a gala dinner, hundreds of technology specialists, all in disguise. And in their midst, our ancient monarch, Juan Carlos I of USA, seated next to Steve Jobswho doesn’t even work for Apple but has in his hands a big project called NeXT, a company with very juicy job offers and a clear idea of revolutionizing home computing thanks to the most intuitive interface ever designed.
And what are these two guys, with such different profiles, doing there? All this is the work of one Ross Perot, a quintessential Texan businessman from Dallas, short and with a particular flair for business.
Ross Perot and his connection to technology
The story of Ross Perot is too long and full of historical accidents to be summarized in a few paragraphs, but it is worth saying that His business career began at IBM, like a simple advertisement. After working for the tech giant for a few years, selling computers, he transferred what he learned to Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a company that would become a very successful consulting firm.
With his pockets full, Perot decided in 1984 to sell most of the company to General Motors… on condition of retaining a seat on the board of directors and being the largest individual shareholder. His power was such that the company had to pay $900 million to get rid of him. EDS is now on the Fortune 500 list with a turnover of 21 billion.
Regardless, Perot once again took what he had learned to a new company, Perot Systems, founded in 1988. Soon after, his interests turned to politics and his eldest son inherited his role. Perot Systems would be sold to Dell for nearly 3.5 billion dollarswhile the daring businessman was already a public figure of great importance: it is not for nothing that, from the start of his political career in 1992, he came to position himself as an absolute favorite, ahead of Republican George HW Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton.
Steve Jobs cajoled King Juan Carlos in less than five minutes
But let’s go back a little further, to October 1988. Perot Systems was just born, in June of the same year. What would become one of the most admired companies in the United States is still in its infancy, still not offering IT services on par with the big guys. AND In addition, he has just invested a fortune in a virtually unknown partner: NeXT Computer.
On the 12th of the same month, Perot organized a grand gala at the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. During a cocktail, Steve Jobs gives the best of himself in a demonstration that he took care of down to the smallest detail, after a sleepless night, as his biographer Walter Isaacson recounted on several occasions. Finish, return to your table. But there is someone who is interested in meeting him, a certain Juan Carlos I, King of USA. Ross Perot introduces them and lets them speak alone. Far away Watch as the monarch takes out a piece of paper, probably a napkin, and scribbles down a few letters, maybe a few numbers.
After a few minutes, Steve Jobs gets up and joins Perot’s table: “What happened? What was that?” “I sold you a computer,” Jobs said with his eternal smile. Steve had told him about the future of computers and Juan Carlos could not contain his excitement at such a discovery. The room, filled with 3,000 spectators from the academic, IT and industrial worlds, applauded one of these “some milestones that only happen once or twice a decade in the world of computing”.
After three years of preparation, the NeXTSTEP system was a success and the rest is history: Apple would end up purchasing an operating system that would be the father of macOS and that would integrate programs into a bar like docks modern. Let’s remember 35 years ago. “We built the best computer in the world,” Jobs concluded. Whether it was or not, Juan Carlos already had one agreed to receive at your home. One of the first to land in Europe, in fact.
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