The photo that ran on the front page of The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday was taken the last time I interviewed Mort Meyerson in 2019.
It was part of an obituary package that I wrote about H. Ross Perot Sr.
Meyerson had been a 26-year-old, clock-punching systems engineer in 1964, when he first laid eyes on this relatively unknown guy in a white button-down shirt, narrow tie and military-esque shaven head.
Two years later, Perot hired Meyerson as EDS employee No. 54 as a systems engineer trainee making $11,000 a year, nearly double his salary at Bell.
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Meyerson had turned down an offer for the same money with a much more impressive title at Bell’s parent, Textron, in Rhode Island.
But Perot dangled the promise of 400 shares of EDS, when it went public — which it did in 1968.
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Meyerson paid $40 for those first shares, which were worth several million dollars when he eventually cashed out.
He and Perot had an “unpleasant head-banging” when Meyerson left Perot Systems as CEO in 1996. It was a complicated relationship, Meyerson said, but never one without mutual respect.
A few years after Meyerson left, Perot called, saying he was sending an artist to paint his portrait for Meyerson’s contributions to EDS’ early success.
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Perot later phoned saying he was sending him an Excalibur — Perot’s medal of honor for those who devoted their lives to EDS’ dream.
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“I’m thinking, ‘What the hell? Am I going to have to pull it out of a rock?’ Meyerson said with a chuckle.
He kept his framed Excalibur in a place of honor at his home, which was a converted DP&L power station.
Meyerson had grown a beard on a lark and Perot hated it.
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Meyerson shaved the beard for the portrait and then quickly grew it back.
He went to see his former boss one last time at Perot headquarters.
He went clean-shaven.
Read more on The Dallas Morning News
