Ross Perot walked into a Tehran prison himself. Bail was $12.75 million.
In December 1978, two men from Electronic Data Systems, Perot's computer firm, were arrested in Tehran. EDS worked for the Shah's government, as the revolution closed in. Bail: $12.75 million.
Perot asked the US ambassador for help. In his words, "he said 'No.'"
So he hired a retired Army colonel who had raided a North Vietnamese prison camp, had him train EDS volunteers, and went to Tehran himself as a courier for a US TV network. Security forces were hunting him, Perot recalled. A different branch of the government ran the prison, so he walked in and sat with his two men.
The raid never ran. On 11 February 1979 a young Iranian EDS worker helped incite a riot; the crowd stormed the prison and freed 11,000 inmates, the news agency UPI reported. His two men walked out with them. The team drove them 540 miles to Turkey on a forged pass. Both made it home. Perot paid for the rescue himself.
Of it he said, "It was that simple. It was the principle."
For anyone running projects in an unstable country, the contract is the easy part. You also own the exposure of the people you send.
What would your company do if two of your people could not leave?
AI-generated illustration with narration by an AI voice.
What the captions say
- This is the story of how Ross Perot sent his own team into Iran, for two men held on $12.75 million bail.
- Perot's computer firm, Electronic Data Systems, worked for the Shah. In December 1978, as revolution swept Iran, two of its men were arrested in Tehran.
- At his dying mother's bedside, he told her his men were jailed. In his telling she answered, "It's your obligation to get them out."
- He asked a retired Army colonel who had raided a North Vietnamese prison camp. The colonel answered, "When do we start?"
- The colonel trained EDS volunteers. Perot traveled to Tehran himself, posing as a courier for an American TV network.
- He asked the American ambassador for help. In Perot's words, "he said 'No.'"
- Perot said security forces were looking for him. But a different branch of government ran the prison, so he walked in and sat with his two men.
- On February 11, 1979, as the team prepared for action, a young Iranian EDS worker helped stir up a crowd.
- The way out came from the street, not the plan. A crowd stormed the prison and freed 11,000 inmates. Perot's two men walked out.
- The team's job became the border. They drove the two men 540 miles to Turkey on a forged pass. Both made it home.
- Perot paid for the rescue himself. He said, "It was that simple. It was the principle."
