DALLAS -- Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot, described as 'one of the remarkable men of his time,' Thursday was selected to receive the Winston Churchill Award.
The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States gives the award to 'people of exceptional accomplishment,' said foundation president John L. Loeb Jr.
Previous recipients include American statesman W. Averell Harriman and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The award is to be presented a in Dallas in February.
'Mr. Perot, like Churchill, is one of the remarkable men of his time,' Loeb said 'In public and private life, he has demonstrated the imagination, boldness and vigor which characterized Churchill.'
Perot founded Electronic Data Systems Corp., for $1,000 in 1962 and built the company into one of the giants of the electonics industry. He sold the company to General Motors in 1984 for $2.5 billion.
Perot's philanthropic work included military-type raids to rescue Americans in Iran and Vietnam.
Perot, a student of British history, lists Churchill among his personal heroes and recently purchased one of the original copies of the Magna Carta and donated it to the National Archives.
