The story about Perot and Gates was a missed opportunity. Perot's most notorious mistake involved a meeting with Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus. They had gotten Perot to agree to buy a large block of their company and to provide further financing for growth and development. The deal came down to discussing executive perks, particularly cars. Marcus wanted Perot to simply pay off the 6yr old Cadillac he was driving. Perot told him to get a new Chevy since, "my people don't drive Cadillacs". The difference would have only been a few thousand more for the Chevy, but it was money that didn't need to be spent. The discussion broke down, leading Blank and Marcus to walk out and develop their company on their own. You may have heard of it: Home Depot. An investment of less than $20million would have netted Perot more than $10billion, but he wanted to split hairs between a used Caddy and a new Chevy. Talk about value shopping...