Frederick W. Smith

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For other persons named Frederick Smith, see Frederick Smith (disambiguation).

Fred W. Smith (born August 11, 1944) is the founder of Federal Express, or FedEx, the first overnight express delivery company in the world, and the largest in the United States. The company is based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fred Smith was born in Marks, Mississippi. He attended high school at Memphis University School, and he received his bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University in 1966, where he wrote a paper on the idea of FedEx (which has been embellished to an urban legend state), became a member of Skull and Bones, and then served in the US Marine Corps for five years as a platoon leader and pilot, where he observed the military's logistics system as well as undertaking a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. After being honorably discharged, Smith purchased the controlling interest in an aircraft maintenance company, Ark Aviation Sales, and by 1971 turned its focus to trading used jets. On June 18, 1971, Smith founded Federal Express with $91 million in venture capital and his $4 million inheritance. In 1973, the company began offering service to 25 cities.[1]

A classmate of George W. Bush while at Yale there was some speculation that he could be appointed as Defense Secretary when Bush became president. Despite some speculation and even pushing from former Senator and Reagan Chief of Staff Howard Baker he was not appointed. Donald Rumsfeld was named instead.

He has a cameo appearance as himself in Cast Away, a film about a FedEx employee who is stranded on a deserted island after his plane crashes.

Mr. Smith is also a member of the Cato Institute Board of Directors

[edit] Quotes

"We'd run out of money and we didn't have all the regulatory requirements that we needed. My half-sisters were up in arms because it looked like we were going to lose some money. Everything was going wrong, except the fundamentals of the business were proving every single day that the idea was right."
"This is a guarantee. If we don't get it there, we don't get paid."