Darwin Deason
Darwin Deason | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1940 near Rogers, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, political contributor |
| Known for | Founder of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) |
Darwin Deason (born 1940) is an American billionaire entrepreneur and political contributor. He established Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) in 1988 and later sold the company to Xerox in 2010 for $6.4 billion, subsequently becoming Xerox's largest single shareholder, holding about 12% as of 2023.
Career
Raised on a farm near Rogers, Arkansas, Deason relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma following high school, beginning his professional journey at Gulf Oil. He eventually took over a struggling subsidiary, renaming it MTech, which was later purchased by EDS.
Following the sale of MTech, Deason launched ACS in 1988. The company was among the pioneers in outsourcing office functions internationally and went public in 1994. He stepped down as CEO in 1999 but continued serving as Executive Chairman until ACS was acquired by Xerox in 2010.
In 2007, Deason pursued a leveraged buyout of ACS alongside Cerberus Capital Management, but the transaction collapsed due to disagreements within the board, resulting in several resignations. Subsequently, he reorganized the board and facilitated the sale of ACS to Xerox in 2009. Although shareholders filed lawsuits concerning the valuation of the deal, they reached a settlement prior to its completion.
In October 2016, Deason initiated legal action against Xerox to prevent a restructuring plan that aimed to spin off ACS’s business process outsourcing division into Conduent. His objections centered on the distribution of ownership stakes and debt allocation between Xerox’s primary operations and Conduent. The dispute was resolved later that month through an agreement dividing his preferred shares between both entities.
Political activity
Deason and his family are prominent donors supporting the Republican Party. They contributed $250,000 toward Rick Perry's presidential campaign in 2012.
During the 2016 election cycle, Deason donated $5 million to Perry's campaign but requested a refund after Perry exited the race. Subsequently, he endorsed Ted Cruz's bid for presidency. From 2017 until mid-2019, Deason gave $1 million to the America First Action super PAC and later provided $405,000 to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.
His son, Doug Deason, is also an influential Republican donor connected with the Koch Brothers' political network. In the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017, Doug conveyed to Senate Republicans that political contributions were contingent upon achieving tax reform and ACA repeal.