Frederick Smith, Fedex Founder and Former CEO, Dies Aged 80

Frederick W. Smith, founder of the US parcel delivery giant Fedex, has passed away at the age of 80, the company announced.

The firm was founded by Mr Smith, a former US Marine Corps employee, in 1973. He served as the company’s CEO until 2022.

Fred was not only the pioneer of his industry and the founder of our great company, but also its heart and soul. According to current CEO Raj Subramaniam, who wrote to staff in a memo, he was ” the driving force behind everything we do. “

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Smith was born in 1944, and he founded FedEx in 1971 when the company employed 389 employees and had 14 small aircraft delivering 186 packages to 25 cities in the US all the way to Memphis.

Today, FedEx employs over 500,000 workers in different parts of the world and delivers millions of packages daily.

Its operations entail 705 aircraft and 200,000 vehicles, as indicated on its site.

He had many apprentices and served as a role model to everyone. Mr Subramaniam described him as a proud father, grandfather, Marine, and friend.

After graduating from Yale University, Mr Smith joined the US Marine Corps as a second lieutenant.

Carmichael had been in Vietnam twice and received medals of courage and battle wounds by the time he made his exit from the military as a captain in 1969.

Mr Smith led a relatively quiet life, although he gained a cameo role in the Tom Hanks film Castaway (he was a FedEx employee stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash).