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FedEx founder Fred Smith is one of the most influential figures in the development of modern logistics, and passed away on Saturday, the company announced.
Smith, 80, resigned as the company’s CEO only in 2022, and was the executive chair of the company, which was founded in 1973 with a fleet of 14 Dassault Falcon 20 jets.
The idea of a service, widely replicated by other operators around the world, began at Yale as a dissertation of Smith’s economics degree.
By the time of Smith’s death, the company operated 698 aircraft, shipping an average of over 16 million packages each day.
In a letter posted on the company’s website later Saturday, Smith’s successor, Raj Subramaniam, wrote that he was announcing his death with “deep sadness and heavy heart.”
Smith’s key insight was to understand that there was a market for premium delivery services for express packages that customers wanted to arrive at their destination the next morning. He placed the US National Hub in Memphis, Tennessee at the heart of his service. This is the busiest hub of today’s international business.
The system is widely mimicked by other delivery services, including UPS, which installed a similar hub in Louisville, Kentucky in 1980.
As e-commerce has risen significantly in volume and demand, comprehensive express delivery services such as FedEx have become an important part of the global economy over the past 25 years.
The company has grown to include not only the flagship express parcel business but also the range of freight transport and logistics services around the world.
However, the company soon came close to a cash shortage after its establishment in 1975. Smith is said to have taken part of the company’s last few thousand dollars to Las Vegas to rescue him by winning $27,000 on Blackjack.
In his letter, Subramaniam wrote that Smith was “not more than a pioneer in the industry” and was the founder of the company.
“He was the heart and soul of FedEx,” writes Subramanian.
Last month, FedEx announced that it had signed an agreement to deliver some large packages of Amazon, the e-commerce giant, Amazon. Six years after Smith protested in protest of Amazon’s decision to build its own logistics network.
Smith saw it as one of the important experiences in his life during his three years in the US Marines after Yale, including two job tours in the Vietnam War.
In his 2006 speech at Yale, Smith said that leaders taught by the military were “the best.”
Subramaniam’s letter stated that Smith was “a leader of many and a source of inspiration for all.”
“He was also a proud father, grandfather, husband, Marine and friend,” he writes.
Smith is a well-known enthusiast of free markets and globalization, and was attributed to the company’s success in recent decades, partly extending to the decision to enter Asian markets such as China earlier than other large US companies.
Memphis mayor Paul Young said Smith was “foresightful, with ideas being reshaping.”
“When he founded FedEx, he didn’t just start a company. He changed the way the world moves,” Young said.
Addistral Reports by Yougabakkang
