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Japan Today
an hour ago
- Business
- Japan Today
Fred Smith, FedEx founder who revolutionized the package delivery business, dies at 80
FILE - FedEx CEO Fred Smith appears at a signing ceremony where President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that establishes a National Council for the American Worker in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, July 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80. FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corp. veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it. Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman. Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a "hub and spokes" system, as it became known. The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses. Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured. At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn't work out. In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 U.S. cities. Smith's father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat. He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale. Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go. Though one of Memphis' best-known and most prominent citizens, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family. Despite his low profile, Smith made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie 'Castaway' starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island. 'Memphis has lost its most important citizen, Fred Smith,' said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing Smith's support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city's zoo. 'FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city." Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM. 'The thing that's interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition,' Smith said at the time. Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, he replied: 'America is the most generous country in the world. It's amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year. Everything from the smallest things to these massive health care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between,' he said. 'I think if you've done well in this country, it's pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FedEx founder Fred Smith dies aged 80
Fred Smith, the FedEx ( founder who revolutionised the express delivery industry, has died aged 80. FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the US postal service could. Over the next half-century, Mr Smith, a veteran US Marine, oversaw the growth of a company that combined air and ground service and became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, FedEx grew into a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Mr Smith stepped down as chief executive in 2022 but remained executive chairman. A 1966 graduate of Yale University, he used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on co-ordinated air cargo flights centred on a main hub – a 'hub and spokes' system, as it became known. The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses. Mr Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured. At the time, he was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that did not work out. In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating from Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 US cities. Mr Smith's father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Mr Smith junior joined the US Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat. He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale. Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the start. Though one of Memphis's best-known and most prominent citizens, Mr Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family. But despite his low profile, he made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie Castaway starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island. 'Memphis has lost its most important citizen, Fred Smith,' said US representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing the FedEx's founder's support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city's zoo. 'FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.' Sign in to access your portfolio
UPI
6 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
FedEx founder Fred Smith dies at 80
June 22 (UPI) -- Fred Smith, the founder of shipping giant Federal Express, has died at the age of 80, the company announced Saturday. His cause of death was not revealed. Smith, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, founded the company in 1973 with just limited staff and 14 small Dassault Falcon 20 jets. He led the company until stepping down in 2022, after growing it to a global behemoth with over 500,000 employees globally and a fleet of about 700 aircraft and hundreds of thousands of vehicles. "It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I share that Frederick W. Smith, our founder and executive chairman, died earlier today," FedEx chief executive Raj Subramaniam said in a statement Saturday. Beyond his leadership of the company, Smith has been heralded for his pioneering of the "hub-and-spoke" delivery system that revolutionized the field of logistics. Instead of shipping packages directly from origin to destination as had been done, FedEx began to route all packages to a central facility in Memphis where they were then rerouted to regional centers and then their destinations. While Smith did not create the hub-and-spoke concept, which had been used previously for airline and railroad travel, he combined the model with a guarantee of overnight air delivery to become the first company to consistently provide express shipping. "He was the heart and soul of FedEx -- its PSP culture, values, integrity, and spirit. He was a mentor to many and a source of inspiration to all. He was also a proud father, grandfather, husband, Marine, and friend," Subramaniam said. "Please keep the entire Smith family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fred Smith, FedEx's innovative founder, is dead at 80
Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx who helped create the overnight delivery industry, changing the way businesses and consumers get the goods they purchased, has died. He was 80 years old. His death was confirmed by the company. 'Fred was more than just the pioneer of an industry and the founder of our great company. He was the heart and soul of FedEx – its PSP culture, values, integrity, and spirit,' said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx's CEO, in a statement. 'He was a mentor to many and a source of inspiration to all.' Smith came up with the idea for FedEx while a student at Yale University, writing a term paper proposing a revolutionary way to deliver time-sensitive shipments. He famously received only an average grade on the paper. He founded the company as Federal Express in 1971 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and it began operations in Memphis two years later, with 389 employees using 14 aircraft to deliver 186 packages to 25 US cities. The company grew steadily over the next 50 years, buying its first seven Boeing 727s freighters after two years of lobbying led to Congress deregulating air cargo. It also bought a series of other companies to help it grow, both internationally and with ground services in the United States, creating both a FedEx Ground unit that moved most of its goods by truck and delivery vans and FedEx Freight, which handled pallet-sized shipments of freight by truck. And it also bought Kinko's copier centers and rebranded them as FedEx Office locations. 'We were a small startup and had our share of skeptics. But that first night of operations set into motion what would become a global connector of people and possibilities that would change our world for the better,' Smith said in a letter to FedEx employees announcing his retirement as CEO in 2022. After stepping down as CEO, Smith continued to serve as FedEx's executive chairman. Born in 1944 in Marks, Mississippi, Smith served for four years in the US Marines. After two tours of duty in Vietnam, Smith returned to start his company, which grew to a nearly $90 billion global shipping empire across 220 countries and territories. Former President George W. Bush called Smith 'one of the finest Americans of our generation' in a statement on Sunday. 'He built an innovative company that helped supercharge our economy. FedEx changed the way we live and do business,' Bush said in the statement. 'My Yale fraternity brother loved America. He was a citizen, not a spectator. He served as a Marine in Vietnam and was rightly proud of his association with our military. I twice asked him to serve as Secretary of Defense, and he declined twice only because of his devotion to his family. Laura and I send our condolences to Fred's beloved children and grandchildren and his wife, Diane.'
NBC News
9 hours ago
- Business
- NBC News
FedEx founder Fred Smith, a Marine Corps veteran who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80. FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it. Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman. Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a 'hub and spokes' system, as it became known. The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses. Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured. At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn't work out. In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 U.S. cities. Smith's father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat. He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale. Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go. Though one of Memphis' best-known and most prominent citizens, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family. Despite his low profile, Smith made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie 'Castaway' starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island. 'Memphis has lost its most important citizen, Fred Smith,' said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing Smith's support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city's zoo. 'FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.' Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM. 'The thing that's interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition,' Smith said at the time. Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, he replied: 'America is the most generous country in the world. It's amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year. Everything from the smallest things to these massive health care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between,' he said. 'I think if you've done well in this country, it's pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.'
