By Chris Robertson, news reporter
H Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire who ran for the US presidency twice, has died according to a family spokesman.
He died early on Tuesday morning, at the age of 89.
The statement said: "Ross Perot, the ground-breaking businessman and loving husband, brother, father and grandfather, passed away early Tuesday at his home in Dallas, surrounded by his devoted family."
Mr Perot rose from poverty to become one of America's richest men and founded the computer services giant Electronic Data Systems Corp in 1962.
The software helped other companies manage their own computer networks.
Advertisement
He sold the business to General Motors in 1984 for $2.5bn (£2bn), and went on to found Perot Systems.
In 1979, he financed a private commando raid in Iran, to free two employees of Electronic Data Systems from prison, the story of which was turned into a book and a film.
More from US
In 1992, he ran for president as an independent candidate against George HW Bush and Bill Clinton.
He drew 19% of the vote, which was one of the best showings for an independent candidate, and was blamed by the Republicans for Mr Bush's defeat.
After the election he spoke out about the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it would create a "giant sucking sound" when jobs from the US went to Mexico.
Sky News
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
