Ross Perot, self-made billionaire, patriot and philanthropist, dies at 89

In 2010, Follett and his wife, Barbara, were invited to Perot's 80th birthday gathering at the family's compound in Bermuda.

They arrived by private jet from Cuba and were driven to a boat landing, where Perot was waiting with his cigarette boat with a yellow inflatable banana boat tethered at its stern.

He told the Folletts to hop on the banana boat so that he could tow them across Castle Harbour.

Perot bellowed with laughter at the look on their faces.

"Of course, it was just one of his jokes," Follett said from his office north of London. "But Barbara couldn't resist the challenge. She said, 'Oh, no, no. I'd like to ride on this.' So the two of us ended up straddling this inflatable thing while Ross' speedboat towed us something like a mile and a half across the lake to his house."

Good thing the water was relatively still, Follett said. "We arrived a little damp, but we were laughing our socks off. That was just the kind of thing that happened when you knew Ross."

When Perot was asked in 2016 what he wanted to be remembered for, he shook off the question with: "Aw, I don't worry about that."

That interview with The News would be his last. His parting words: "Texas born. Texas bred. When I die, I'll be Texas dead. Ha!"

Perot is survived by his wife, Margot; their five children and spouses, Ross Jr. and Sarah Perot; Nancy Perot and Rod Jones; Suzanne and Patrick K. McGee; Carolyn and Dr. Karl Rathjen; and Katherine and Eric Reeves; 16 grandchildren: Hill, Hunter, Sarah Catherine, Meredith, Ross, Price, Benjamin, Clayton, Patrick, William, Margot, Cameron, Henry, Bette, Kate and Stuart; and his sister, Bette Perot.

A public tribute is being planned.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2019/07/09/ross-perot-self-made-billionaire-patriot-philanthropist-dies-89