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Memphis, Tennessee – Fred Smith, the founder of Fedex Corp. Who has revolutionized the express delivery industry, died, said the company. He was 80 years old.
Fedex began to operate in 1973, delivering small plots and documents more quickly than the postal service. During the following half-century, Smith, a veteran of the Marine Corps, supervised the growth of a company which has become something of an economic bell tower because so many other companies count.
Fedex, based in Memphis, in Tennessee, has become a global transport and logistics company which compensates on average 17 million shipments per working day. Black-smith resigned as CEO in 2022 But remained executive president.
Smith, a graduate of the University of Yale in 1966, used a business theory he proposed at the University to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main center, a system of “hub and shelves”, as it has become known.
The company has also played a major role in the change in American companies and industry to greater use of time -sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large stocks and warehouses.
Smith once said to the Associated Press that he had seen the name of Federal Express because he wanted the company to seem large and important when in fact it was a start -up operation with a future far from being insured.
At the time, Smith tried to win a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank which did not work.
At first, Federal Express had 14 small planes operating from the flight packages from Memphis International Airport to 25 American cities.
Smith’s father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other commercial enterprises. After the college, Smith joined the American Marines and was ordered a second lieutenant. He left the army as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for courage and injuries received in combat.
He told the Associated Press in An interview in 2023 That everything he has done in execution Fedex came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned in Yale.
Starting Federal Express was not an easy task. Night expeditions were new to American Business and the company must have a fleet of aircraft and an interconnection system for air routes in place from the start.
Although one of the best known and most eminent citizens in Memphis, Smith has generally avoided public projectors, devoting its energies to work and the family.
Despite his low profile, Smith made an appearance in the film of 2000 “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. The film spoke of an employee of Fedex stranded on an island.
“Memphis has lost his most important citizen, Fred Smith,” said American representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing the support of Smith to 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 made known the gifts he and his family have made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 of a gift to the Foundation of scholarship scholarships To provide a new scholarship fund for the children of the Navy soldiers who are pursuing studies in STEM.
“What interests me are institutions and causes and not the name or recognition,” said Smith 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 is incredible 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 else, “he said. “I think that if you have done well in this country, it is quite moving for you not to be ready to put a fairly good part of the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.”
