After moving to the United States, Perik co-founded The Learning Company, maker of educational software such as "Reader Rabbit," "Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia," and "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" Through a series of acquisitions, TLC grew to be a giant among software companies, before being acquired itself by toymaker Mattel in May 1999 for a reported $3.6 billion. In August of that year, Perik cashed in $5 million of Mattel stock. Two months later, Mattel announced that TLC was expected to lose up to $100 million, adding that it was "painfully aware" that the firm's poor performance would hurt Mattel's bottom line. Perik left the company the following month with a large severance check.

Though he didn't become a U.S. citizen until last summer, Perik has been making political contributions as a green-card holder since 1997. During the last election cycle, Perik and his wife, Elizabeth Beretta Perik, gave all but $5,000 of their contributions to Democrats. The Gore campaign applauded Perik for raising at least $100,000 for the vice president, rewarding him with tickets to the first presidential debate.

Perik told the Los Angeles Times that he gives to the Democrats because they share his values. "I don't need anything from government," he said, "and I certainly don't expect anything."

Expectations aside, Perik's software business got a helping hand from the government in 1998, when the Clinton administration imposed a fee on telephone calls to pay for Internet access for every school in the nation. The "E-rate" program -- reportedly dreamed up by Al Gore -- gave schools $2.3 billion to buy computers and go online. The Learning Company quickly cashed in on the lucrative new market, offering educators a discount on its "Cyber Patrol" program to block students from accessing porn sites.