![\"Darwin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RGUPCS7SHJG6NGKNVQ6SX6DUXU.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDarwin Deason, the billionaire founder of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, died on Dec. 2. He was 85 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blessing of Darwin was he could not sneak up on you,\u201d said his son Doug Deason, president of their family office Deason Capital Services. \u201cHe planted his heels when he walked. You\u2019d hear him coming, because he walked with purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n
That walk was emblematic of the hard-nosed \u201chustle\u201d that drove Deason from the time he was born on the dirt floor of an Arkansas farm until he died as a noted Dallas businessman, philanthropist and political donor. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Darwin Deason, the billionaire founder of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, is pictured with his son Doug Deason (left) and daughter Sterling Deason O Donnell (center). Darwin Deason died on Dec. 2 at 85 years old.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Doug Deason<\/p>\n
\u201cHe crammed 100 years of life into 85,\u201d Doug said. \u201cHe was road-hard. He slept four or five hours a night, maybe, and if he went to bed late, he still got up super early.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis mantra was \u2018hustle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Deason was born in 1940 in Rogers, Ark., the homestead of the Deasons since 1862, Doug said. But while generations of his family had been devout Christian farmers, Deason had an innate drive for entrepreneurship and success. <\/p>\n
Business Briefing<\/p>\n
By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n After graduating from Rogers High School, Deason took a job with Gulf Oil in Tulsa, Okla. Dallas called out to him, though, appealing to his entrepreneurial spirit, and he looked for opportunities there.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can\u2019t do it in Dallas, you can\u2019t do it anywhere, and he recognized that early on,\u201d Doug said. \u201cHe was in Tulsa, and he was looking for opportunities in Dallas, making phone calls, checking the paper.\u201d <\/p>\n Deason got wind of a small data processing company and came to Dallas for an interview, eventually getting hired as the third employee of what would become MTech. He was appointed CEO at 29 and grew the company into a successful subsidiary of MCorp, once the largest bank holding company in Texas. After taking MTech public, Deason and other executives tried to buy out the company but were denied, and it was instead bought up by Ross Perot\u2019s Electronic Data Systems. <\/p>\n Deason responded the same year by founding Affiliated Computer Services, which provided business service outsourcing and IT solutions, in 1988. By 1990, Dallas-based ACS had 1,300 employees and more than $120 million in revenue. The company pioneered an aggressive acquisitions strategy, buying and selling more than 50 companies in its lifetime, and was one of the first companies to outsource office work to foreign countries, according to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Printing giant Xerox acquired ACS in 2010 for $6.4 billion after a settled shareholder suit<\/a> protested the premium price of Deason\u2019s voting shares. By the time it was sold, ACS was a Fortune 500 company with 74,000 employees worldwide and $6 billion in annual revenue, serving customers like E-ZPass, UPS and government agencies across the country. After the sale of ACS, Deason became the largest individual shareholder of Xerox, despite legal battles<\/a> over the allocation of his shares.<\/p>\n \u201cHe really and truly loved Dallas,\u201d Doug said of his father. \u201cHe credited Dallas with his success, and he doesn\u2019t think he could have done it anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n Darwin Deason, the billionaire founder of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, was known for his “hustle” mantra. He died on Dec. 2 at 85 years old.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Doug Deason<\/p>\n Deason was well known for passing out \u201chustle cards\u201d that went in one\u2019s billfold to remind them of \u201cThe Most Important Word in the English Language,\u201d Doug said, and his business acumen was complemented by the high expectations he held for those around him. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was harsh. He was a critic. He was a perfectionist, and so he expected the most out of people,\u201d Doug said. <\/p>\n Doug recounted the tough love he received from his father after a night of partying when he wanted to sleep in, but the ethos also applied to everyone else, including colleagues. A former CEO of ACS reached out to Doug after Deason\u2019s funeral remembering fondly how demanding Deason could be as a boss.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just honored and proud that dad thought he was capable of more, and so that made him want to strive to do more,\u201d Doug said.<\/p>\n With his vast fortune, Deason liked to spend lavishly and give generously. His opulent 12,981-square-foot beach palace in La Jolla, Calif., was nicknamed \u201cThe Sand Castle\u201d and hit the market for $108 million<\/a> earlier this year. He was also a connoisseur of boats, starting with a 14-foot AristoCraft in his \u201820s and going through several of increasing size until purchasing the 203-foot mega-yacht Apogee in 2004, according to Forbes<\/a>. The yacht was outfitted with a Wurlitzer jukebox, Swarovski wine glasses, and an oceanview gym. On the water was \u201cthe only place I\u2019ve truly been able to relax,\u201d Deason told the magazine. <\/p>\n He also founded The Deason Foundation, which disburses around $3 million in charity each year, according to ProPublica<\/a>. Inspired by Deason\u2019s own trajectory, it focuses on efforts that \u201cempower the poor to lift themselves out of poverty,\u201d said Doug, who now runs the foundation. <\/p>\n In addition to other charitable causes, The Deason Foundation, per tax filings<\/a>, donated $1 million to MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2018-22, has collaborated with the S.M. Wright Foundation and Academy to give free bikes to kids, donated $1 million to Dallas\u2019 Society of Women Engineers and contributed to Arlington\u2019s National Medal of Honor Museum. <\/p>\n Through The Deason Foundation, Deason also became a significant donor to Southern Methodist University. Though not an alumnus of SMU, Deason \u201cwanted to do something that he felt was important for Dallas and for the country,\u201d said SMU President Emeritus Gerald Turner, who worked with Deason on many of his donations to the school.<\/p>\n \u201cInnovation, he felt, was an American strength, and so he wanted to encourage that in the next generation of students,\u201d Turner said. <\/p>\n A $7.75 million gift in 2014<\/a> established the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security and Innovation Gym, and twin $3.5 million donations from The Deason Foundation and The Koch Foundation established the Deason Family Criminal Justice Reform Center at Dedman School of Law in 2016. The Deason Foundation has also made additional gifts for continued funding.<\/p>\n Doug worked closely with his father on these initiatives, and they had \u201ca really good time,\u201d he said, even as Deason advanced in age and couldn\u2019t do as much. \u201cWith his money and my effort, we\u2019ve done a lot of good,\u201d Doug reflected.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n \u201cDarwin Deason\u2019s contributions to SMU created countless groundbreaking opportunities and inspired new passions for our students, researchers and community members,\u201d said current SMU president Jay Hartzell in a statement. \u201cHis vision for the future put SMU at the forefront of cybersecurity and criminal justice reform, and his enduring generosity has forever altered the landscape of innovative discovery and creative thinking. We remain forever grateful for his generosity that continues to spark ideas and impact across our campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Trenton Johnson (CQ), a former Mr. Black Trans International, transgender activist and public speaker, joins the panel at the sodomy laws and same-sex marriage event hosted by The Dallas Morning News and the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, June 26, 2018. <\/p>\n Elias Galarza, 17, of Dallas drills a hole for a hinge under the guidance of instructor Mitchell Dye, a Lyle Engineering Student at SMU, during an engineering summer camp at the Deason Innovation Gym in Caruth Hall at SMU on June 29, 2017.<\/p>\n Ryan Michalesko \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n In later years, Deason, a staunch conservative, became involved in politics, supporting former Texas governor Rick Perry<\/a>\u2019s presidential primary campaign in 2012 and 2016. Deason later endorsed Ted Cruz<\/a> in 2016 before donating $1 million to the America First Action super PAC during Donald Trump\u2019s first presidency. Deason contributed $405,000 to Trump\u2019s unsuccessful 2020 campaign, as well, according to Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Through The Deason Foundation, Deason also supported conservative causes such as Turning Point USA, Charles Koch\u2019s Stand Together Foundation and the National Rifle Association, according to tax filings. <\/p>\n Doug, also a conservative activist, described his father as a \u201ccommon sense person\u201d and very engaged and active, when explaining his political involvement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just common sense that, if you expect a good government, then you have to make sure the right people are elected,\u201d Doug said. \u201cYou get what you pay for.\u201d <\/p>\n Deason was married six times and maintained close friendships with the two mothers of his children, sons Doug and David Deason (deceased) and daughter Sterling Deason O\u2019Donnell. In addition to Doug and Sterling, Deason is survived by numerous grandchildren, a brother and sister, nieces and nephews and many friends and colleagues, who will in part remember him for the \u201chustle\u201d mantra he preached, according to Doug. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of his ex-executives sent me a picture, and he had his hustle card pulled halfway out of his billfold. He\u2019s carried that same hustle card for 27 years,\u201d Doug said. \u201cTo me, I think that\u2019s his biggest legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn Hamer insists a relationship with an unnamed associate was consensual.<\/p>\n Hicks co-founded Hicks & Haas in 1984 and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in 1989.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darwin Deason, the billionaire founder of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, died on Dec. 2. He was 85 years…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":444905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,9604,593,158,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-444904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-entrepreneurs","11":"tag-obituaries","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115713597706348281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Darwin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WF36WS2YGRBB3ADRIT7HKX5RYU.jpg\")
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