Early Years

Morton was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938. He went to Paschal High School, where he played football and wore #72 like his father before him. After graduating magna cum laude from Paschal in 1956, Morton left Fort Worth to attend college at The University of Texas at Austin. While at UT, Morton was active in the a cappella choir, fraternity life, student government, intramural football and the Texas Cowboys. He also found time to become a licensed pilot. Morton graduated from college in 1961 after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Philosophy. In 2005, Morton was a recipient of The University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Beginning in 1961, Morton served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army with an occupational specialty involving automatic data processing. Morton also served in the active reserves from 1963 through 1969.


Business

  • Speak the truth from the heart according to your own experience.
    Listen generously. Be committed to each other's success.

    Iain Anderson
  • It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

    Aristotle
  • The essence of courage is to stake one’s life on a possibility. The essence of faith is to believe the possibility exists.

    William Salter
  • Imagination is more important
    than knowledge.

    Albert Einstein
  • Music in the soul can be
    heard by the universe.

    Lao–Tzu
  • I think I should have no other
    mortal wants, if I could always
    have plenty of music.

    George Eliot
  • At the center of your being you have the answer;
    you know who you are and you know what you want.

    Lao–Tzu
  • An ant on the move does
    more than a dozing ox.

    Lao–Tzu
  • Education is more than a
    means for earning a living or the acquisition of wealth; it is the
    training of the soul in the pursuit
    of truth and the practice of virtue.

    Vijaya Pundit
  • All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

    Lao–Tzu
  • From caring comes courage.

    Lao–Tzu
  • Be content with what you have;
    rejoice in the way things are.
    When you realize there is
    nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

    Lao–Tzu
  • Ambition is like the sea wake—
    the more you drink
    the more you thirst.

    Lord Alfred Tennyson
  • By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.

    Confucius
  • The Good Leader, the people praise;
    the Bad Leader, the people blame;
    but of the Great Leader, the people say, 'We did it ourselves’.

    Anonymous
  • Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

    Mark Twain
  • Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling that a life?

    Mary Oliver
  • If you’re never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances.

    Julia Sorel
  • Everybody who works for you matters— and they know in a heartbeat if you care about them.

    Morton H. Meyerson
  • Don’t worry about
    avoiding temptation.
    As you grow older,
    it will avoid you.

    Winston Churchill
  • Kindness is the language
    which the deaf can hear
    and the blind can see.

    Mark Twain
  • The real test for what you have
    built is if it continues to grow
    after you leave.

    Morton H. Meyerson
  • The only way of finding the limits
    of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.

    Arthur Clarke
  • Not everything that is faced
    can be changed, but nothing can
    be changed until it is faced.

    James Baldwin
  • Om sarwa prani hitangkaram...
    (May all that breathes be well...)

    Balinese farmer’s prayer
  • 'Discipline' comes from
    the root of the same word
    that yields 'disciple'.
    Therefore, discipline is to yield oneself in service for others.

    Morton H. Meyerson
  • The measure of a man
    is what he does with power.

    Pittacus
  • The bigger a person gets
    the more real they get—
    or else they come crashing down.

    Morton H. Meyerson
  • Don’t be afraid that your life
    will end, be afraid that it
    will never begin.

    Unknown Author
  • Whatsoever thy hand finds to do,
    do it with all thy might.

    Ecclesiastes
  • Time is really the only capitol that any human being has, and the one thing he can’t afford to lose.

    Thomas Edison
  • Not everything that can
    be counted counts,
    and not everything that
    counts can be counted.

    Albert Einstein
  • You must be the change that
    you wish to see in the world.

    Mohandas Gandhi
  • When the power of love
    over comes the love of power
    the world will know peace.

    Jimi Hendrix
  • Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want
    to test a man’s character,
    give him power.

    Abraham Lincoln
  • Strangely, it was comforting
    to me when I read that
    squirrels forget where they hide
    about half their nuts.

    Ruth Casey
  • Acts of kindness
    are among those things
    that have no limits.

    Jewish Precept
  • I cry with one eye and
    laugh with the other.

    Rebbe Nachman
  • Perfect kindness acts
    without thinking kindness.

    Lao–Tzu
  • No one can make you feel
    inferior without your consent.

    Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Each of us is bound to the past, even as we are anchored in the present and consider the future.

    Rabbi Leo Baeck
  • Live outside yourself.
    Do something every day
    for other people.

    John Tesh
  • Traditions are group efforts
    to keep the unexpected
    from happening.

    Barbara Tober
  • Don’t confuse being in charge of
    the aircraft carrier with being
    the aircraft carrier.

    Morton H. Meyerson
  • Charismatic leaders make us think, 'Oh, if only I could do that, be like that.'
    True leaders make us think, 'If they can do that, then...I can too.'

    John Holt, Educator
  • Making money is easy.
    Having fun and helping others find a sense of purpose
    is what matters,
    and is much harder.

    Morton H. Meyerson

Morton began his business career in 1963 at Bell Helicopter. In 1966, he joined Electronic Data Systems, Inc. as a systems engineer trainee, ultimately becoming President and Vice Chair and leading 45,000 employees. From 1971 through 1974, Morton served as the Chair and CEO of duPont Glore Forgan, a Wall Street brokerage firm. In 1984, Morton played a significant role in the sale of EDS to General Motors for $2.5 billion and became the top technology officer at General Motors. Two and a half years after the sale to General Motors, with EDS’s revenue having grown four-fold, Morton retired.

From 1986 through 1992, Morton pursued private investment opportunities with Richard Rainwater and coached Michael Dell in the formative period of Dell Computer. In 1992, Morton re–joined the corporate world as Chair and CEO of Perot Systems. He retired again in 1998.

Currently, Morton is the Chair and CEO of 2M Companies, Inc. Morton has been actively engaged in investment activities through 2M and its affiliates since 1985. Morton’s investment interests are diverse and have included financing, developing and managing real estate transactions, equity and debt financing for early–stage technology companies and early stage biotech.

Morton was elected into The American Academy of Arts & Sciences 2007 Class of Fellows. The Academy honors distinguished scientists, scholars and leaders in public affairs, business and the arts.

Morton was inducted into The Outsourcing Hall of Fame of the International Association of Outsourcing Professional in February 2013. The Outsourcing Hall of Fame is one of the most prestigious awards available to individuals who have worked in or who are working in the field of outsourcing.

From time to time, Morton has served on public and private company boards. Currently, Morton is active on the following boards:


Tzedakah

Morton and his family firmly believe in the Jewish philosophy of “Tzedakah”—the Hebrew word for the just and righteous giving required of Jews, and they pursue Tzedakah projects through The David Nathan Meyerson Foundation. Morton devotes substantial time, effort and resources to the Foundation as the head of the board of trustees and is also an avid student of Judaism and Jewish history.


Community Activity and Affiliations

Morton currently serves on the board of the Dallas Symphony Association. In prior years, Morton has been involved with a variety of organizations, including:

  • Vice Chairman—The National Park Foundation
  • Chairman—Dallas Symphony Association New Building Committee
  • Chairman, Texas—National Research Laboratory Super Conducting Super Collider Project Commission
  • Member—Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College
  • Director—Japan Society USA
  • Director—Dallas Museum of Art
  • Director—Harry Ransom Center for Humanities Studies at The University of Texas at Austin
  • Bass Singer—The Morris Beachy Singers and The Dallas Symphony Chorus

Family

Morton was blessed with three children - Leslie, David and Marti. Leslie and her husband, Rob, and Marti and her husband, Jamie, each have three children. Morton enjoys spending as much time as possible with his six grandchildren. Morton's son, David, is deceased but his legacy is carried on by Morton, Marti, Leslie and Leslie's daughter, Julia, through the David Nathan Meyerson Foundation.