Frederick W. Smith
Frederick W. Smith is the founder of Federal Express, now known as FedEx, the express delivery company he launched in 1973 using a hub-and-spoke air-ground network. He served as CEO until June 2022, when he transitioned to executive chairman, a role he held until his death in June 2025 at age 80. He is best known for pioneering the overnight delivery industry, a concept he first outlined in a college economics paper at Yale University.
“Stan Shih (Acer), Amadeo Giannini (Bank of America), Larry Hillblom (DHL), George Eastman (Kodak), Fred Smith (FedEx), Jerry Yang (Yahoo), Carlos Slim (América Móvil), Jorge Paulo Lemann (3G Capital), Aristotle Onassis (Olympic Maritime), Harland David Sanders (KFC), James Dyson, Lorenzo Zambrano (CEMEX), Jim Casey (UPS), Li Ka-Shing (CK Hutchison), Frank Lowy (Westfield), Alfred Krupp all lost parents in childhood or adolescence.”
Source→“He wrote his paper on the idea for Federal Express. And they gave him a C-.”
Source→AI-extracted from podcast / newsletter / paper summaries. May contain errors.