Steve Jobs Worried His Porsche 911 Would Signal Too Much Wealth. He Scrambled To Hide It Before Meeting Ross Perot For A $20M Deal
Steve Jobs Worried His Porsche 911 Would Signal Too Much Wealth. He Scrambled To Hide It Before Meeting Ross Perot For A $20M Deal
Adrian VolenikThu, March 19, 2026 at 3:16 PM UTC
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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs had a reputation for obsessing over every detail–from the products he built to the cars he drove. His connection to the Porsche 911 became one of his most well-known personal quirks. For years, he replaced his black Porsche every six months, partly so he could avoid putting a license plate on it.
But in 1987, that same car suddenly became a liability.
A Last-Minute Decision To Avoid The Wrong Impression
At the time, Jobs was running NeXT, the company he founded after being pushed out of Apple. In 1987, he was preparing for a visit from billionaire Ross Perot, who was considering a major investment.
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Perot had built a reputation as a disciplined and frugal businessman. Jobs worried that showing up in a high-end sports car could send the wrong signal. If Perot thought NeXT was already flush with cash, it could hurt the company's chances of securing funding.
So Jobs acted quickly.
NeXT software engineer Randy Adams, who also owned a Porsche 911 Turbo, told Forbes in 2012 that Jobs rushed into his office and said, “Randy, we have to hide the Porsches!”
Adams was confused, but Jobs explained the concern: “Ross Perot is coming by and thinking of investing in the company, and we don’t want him to think we have a lot of money.”
The two moved their cars out of sight before the meeting began.
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The Move That Resulted In A $20 Million Investment
It's unknown whether Perot would have cared about the cars. But the decision didn't hurt.
Perot ended up investing $20 million in NeXT and even joined the company's board. At the time, he believed in Jobs' vision of using advanced computers to transform education.
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Although NeXT itself didn't turn into a massive commercial success, the company played a critical role in what came next.
Apple acquired NeXT for $400 million about a decade later. That deal brought Jobs back to Apple and helped set the stage for one of the most significant turnarounds in business history.
The technology developed at NeXT became the foundation for macOS and later iOS–the software powering the iPhone and iPad.
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Jobs never lost his appreciation for the Porsche 911. But on that particular day, putting it out of sight may have made a meaningful difference.
Without Perot's $20 million investment, NeXT might not have survived long enough to influence Apple's future. And without that chain of events, the modern tech landscape could look very different.
Whether Jobs ever told Perot about hiding the cars isn't known. What is clear is that even someone known for strong convictions understood that adjusting the optics could make all the difference.
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This article Steve Jobs Worried His Porsche 911 Would Signal Too Much Wealth. He Scrambled To Hide It Before Meeting Ross Perot For A $20M Deal originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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