Business Notes COMPUTERS

When H. Ross Perot was forced off the board of General Motors last December, many people wondered where he would park his $700 million settlement. Some of the money showed up in Silicon Valley last week: Perot announced he was buying a stake in Next, the computer venture of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former chairman of Apple Computer. For $20 million, Perot, 56, joins the Next board and gets 16% of a company that is at least a year away from shipping its first product. Jobs, 31, will keep 63% for himself. "We feel we can call up Ross at 1 a.m. if we need to," said Jobs. "I'll help out anytime I can," replied the man whose help drove GM Chairman Roger Smith to distraction.