Ross Perot died...

[svauto-erotic855]

I didn’t know that Perot was such a terrible money manager. I like the net worth number that obviously came out of SVO’s ass.

As for GM, they hated Ross because he relentlessly wanted to change the company to fix it. They also hate their employees which is counter to his style. He treats his employees extremely well in every way.

He wasn't a terrible money manager. He would have been a much wealthier man had he not been such a cantankerous asshole towards his equals. When you compare him to his peers of the same era you will understand his shortcomings.

He made a bad judgment call trying to run for president and I will never forgive him for the damage he did. I say good riddance and I'm happy that I lived long enough to see him die.

[Broncojohnny]

I didn’t know that Perot was such a terrible money manager. I like the net worth number that obviously came out of SVO’s ass.

As for GM, they hated Ross because he relentlessly wanted to change the company to fix it. They also hate their employees which is counter to his style. He treats his employees extremely well in every way.

[svauto-erotic855]

Two sides to every story...


https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/07/...eneral-Motors/

Please notice that I did not say Perot was wrong about his assessment of General Motors. What I said was that he was so mouthy and hard to get along with that they were willing to pay him $700,000,000 to leave. That was pretty much the only honest big money that the man made in his life, after that he went back to the government feeding trough where most of his money came from in the first place and wouldn't shut the fuck up about government spending the entire time he was taking our money from the government. Medicare and Medicaid are what made him a billionaire and they are also the programs that are bankrupting the country. Hypocritical, tyrannical, Napoleon complex, little shitbag Hitler in business but he had a heart of gold when it came down to personal interactions and charities. Like I said, all men are flawed. I'm unwilling to forgive him for the harm he caused because of the good that he has done.

[Strychnine]

being such a mouthy pain in the ass that General Motors was willing to pay him seven hundred million dollars to shut up and leave.

Two sides to every story...

the deal made Perot GM’s largest shareholder, and he immediately began to work on turning the lumbering business around.

It was not a happy process. According to Jeff Gramm’s excellent history of shareholder activism Dear Chairman, Perot quickly realised that the company’s problems stemmed from a board who were unwilling to listen to their customers, employees or — in Perot’s case — agitated fellow board members.

While Smith blamed his workers for GM’s relative inefficiency, Perot suspected it was because the company’s culture was broken. Workers were thought of as an expense, rather than an asset.

His suspicions were proved right when in 1983 GM struck a deal with Toyota to reopen a plant in Fremont, California (now owned by Tesla Motors). Dubbed “NUMMI” — New United Motor Manufacturing Inc — the joint venture achieved defect rates and quality ratings unheard of at GM’s other plants. And, crucially, it did so with old equipment, proving to Perot that culture, not technology, drove performance. In Perot’s view, as expressed to the board in ‘85, its competitors were winning by “using brains and wit as a substitute for capital”.

Smith, however, didn’t buy it, and continued to see investments in technology as GM’s panacea. When GM agreed to buy Hughes Aircraft, a defence contractor, for $5bn in ‘85, Perot thought the business was repeating the same old mistakes and decided to write to Smith to share his frustrations...

etc

...Perot would go on to found another billion-dollar company, Perot Systems, before his presidential run. But his legacy at GM was lasting. After his very public exit from GM, Gramm writes that institutional shareholders began to take note of poor corporate governance in the US. As one example, in 1987, for the first time ever, four public pensions funds submitted shareholder resolutions— 47 of them to be precise — with CALPERS chief executive Dale Hanson admitting that, “as owners [of companies] for the last 30 or 40 years, we’ve been asleep at the switch”.

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/07/10/1562759372000/Ross-Perot-s-battle-with-General-Motors/

[svauto-erotic855]

And at what... 4 billion dollars, I really wouldn't give a rat's ass if my fortune grew any bigger either. Whatcha gonna do, buy another tropical island to go right next to the other 2?

It's not about the money. It shows a clear lack of proper judgment. The only wise business decision he ever made was being at the right place at the right time to suck up government dollars and being such a mouthy pain in the ass that General Motors was willing to pay him seven hundred million dollars to shut up and leave.

[Gasser64]

He was also such a stubborn ass that his fortune did not grow by an appreciable amount in nearly 20 years when his peers net worth went up 11 fold in the same timeframe. He was a man who gladly cashed his government checks while bitching about bloated government spending and feeding at the government trough with the other pigs.

And at what... 4 billion dollars, I really wouldn't give a rat's ass if my fortune grew any bigger either. Whatcha gonna do, buy another tropical island to go right next to the other 2?

[svauto-erotic855]

Pot ——-> Kettle ——-> Thread.

A man has to know his limitations and I know mine. He knew his and ignored them and we are all suffering for it. The damage he did by running in 92 outweighs all of the good he has ever done by an order of magnitude.

A perfect example of the type of man he really is is that GM paid him 700 million dollars to GTFO when all they had to do was allow him to stick around for a few years and then he would leave without getting a cent. He was also such a stubborn ass that his fortune did not grow by an appreciable amount in nearly 20 years when his peers net worth went up 11 fold in the same timeframe. He was a man who gladly cashed his government checks while bitching about bloated government spending and feeding at the government trough with the other pigs.

[AnthonyS]

His mistake was being so full of himself.

Pot ——-> Kettle ——-> Thread.

[svauto-erotic855]

Get ready, SVO will be back soon with a ridiculous and wholly unprovable anecdote to prove how very, very wrong you are are.

All of what he said is true but all men are flawed. His mistake was being so full of himself that he believed he could start a winning 3rd party. Turns out "It is really not that simple".

[GhostTX]

Wasn't he basically the first to campaign the way it is modernly done? Mass marketing essentially?

I know a lot of people say he is the reason that Clinton won because he stole votes from Bush, however, if you look at the numbers from when he announced he was running, withdrew, and then re-entered the race, it was Clinton who actually lost in the polls.

Perot's big thing was splitting the conservative vote. He needed to have been like Trump, and gone in as a 'Pub. I guess we can chalk it up to lessons learned and this is why we have Trump now.

[Big A]

Or how he was the one to convince Perot to run for President.

The way I hear it, he turned down the offer to be VP, and it went south from there.

[32vfromhell]

Or how he was the one to convince Perot to run for President.

[Strychnine]

Ross was one of the best human beings to ever bless this planet. He literally did not stop trying to help others. He was relentless when it came to that and he did it just like many of us fantasize about doing it if we had the means. He is going to be sorely missed.

Get ready, SVO will be back soon with a ridiculous and wholly unprovable anecdote to prove how very, very wrong you are are.

[Broncojohnny]

Ross was one of the best human beings to ever bless this planet. He literally did not stop trying to help others. He was relentless when it came to that and he did it just like many of us fantasize about doing it if we had the means. He is going to be sorely missed.

[jewozzy]

Wasn't he basically the first to campaign the way it is modernly done? Mass marketing essentially?

I know a lot of people say he is the reason that Clinton won because he stole votes from Bush, however, if you look at the numbers from when he announced he was running, withdrew, and then re-entered the race, it was Clinton who actually lost in the polls.