Barter Deal Made Years Ago Pays Off Big For Ross Perot

Dell Inc. agreed to buy Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion ($30 a share) on September 22 this week. Inasmuch as Ross Perot’s family controls about 25% of the stock, they stand to collect almost $1 billion. Not reported by any of the newspapers or wire services was the story on Perot Systems beginnings...we at BarterNews found it to be most interesting and reported on it in our August 10, 2004, Tuesday Report.

In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap: The announcement back then, of the business relationship between Perot Systems and the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), was a fascinating one. It was in 1996 that Perot Systems, then a relatively new computer startup with a famous person leading the company, was able to secure a contract to run the technology department for the Swiss financial giant’s investment bank and other units because of a Perot-envisioned barter offer.

UBS agreed to a 10-year agreement because of an exceptionally beneficial offer plus extra-special service...but also because they were provided an option to acquire 7 million shares of Perot Systems stock at $3.65 a share, when the company went public.

Perot Systems made such a barter agreement because they needed a substantial contract, and had to outbid their bigger rivals such as IBM and EDS. At the time the UBS contract accounted for 25% of the firm’s revenue.

Less than three years after the contract was signed, Perot Systems became a publicly traded company. On the second day of trading, its stock was selling at $61 a share—with UBS holding a $400 million windfall!

So now you know the rest of the story!