On 21 June 2025, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam announced the death from natural causes of Frederick Wallace Smith, the founder of the global express air transport company. Smith was born on 11 August 1944 in Marks, Mississippi, to James Frederick Smith and Sally Wallace Smith. His father, founder of the Toddle House restaurant chain and Smith Motor Coach Company (later Dixie Greyhound Lines), died when Fred was only four years old.
Smith later attended Presbyterian Day School in Memphis for primary education and Memphis University School for secondary school, where he developed a passion for aviation and became an amateur pilot during his teenage years. In 1962, he enrolled at Yale University to study economics. While at Yale, he wrote an economics paper outlining a concept for overnight delivery, proposing an alternative system that focused on the movement of smaller parcels, in contrast to the conventional use of lorries and passenger aircraft. This is widely believed to have been the inspiration that eventually led to the founding of FedEx. He graduated in economics in 1966 and was a friend and fraternity brother of future US President George W. Bush.
After graduation in 1966, Smith served for four years in the United States Marine Corps, including two tours in Vietnam. He served as a platoon commander in the 1st Marine Division in Chu Lai, later becoming commander of Kilo Company, whose riflemen took part in the battle for the city of Hue. During his second tour in Vietnam, Smith served as a forward air controller with Marine Observation Squadron 2 in Marble Mountain. For his military service, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts, leaving the Marines in 1970 with the rank of captain.
In a 1998 interview with Fortune, Smith stated that "much of FedEx’s success is due to lessons learned in war. I led a group of guys who came from very different backgrounds to mine – people who had worked in steel mills or petrol stations, lorry drivers. That experience gave me a different perspective on how blue-collar workers think and act."
After returning from Vietnam, Smith took control in 1970 of Ark Aviation Sales, an aircraft maintenance company, which he turned in 1971 into a business trading in used jets. Just one year later, on 18 June 1971, he founded Federal Express using a $4 million inheritance (equivalent to about $32 million in 2025 dollars) and raising a further $91 million ($724.2 million in 2025 dollars) in venture capital. Smith chose the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound large and important from the outset, even though at the time it was merely a start-up with a very uncertain future.
On 17 April 1973, the company began operations, offering services to 25 cities with a fleet of fourteen Dassault Falcon 20 jets. On its first day, it delivered 186 packages to 25 American cities. However, the early years of Federal Express were difficult. The company lost $29 million in its first 26 months and did not achieve its first profit until 1975. In 1981, Federal Express launched international deliveries, expanding into Latin America and the Caribbean and acquiring its first seven Boeing 727 cargo planes.
The company chose Memphis as its main operational hub due to its strategic location and favourable weather conditions and developed the hub-and-spoke system to maximise the combined use of aircraft and lorries. Over the years, FedEx expanded through a series of strategic acquisitions, creating FedEx Ground for surface shipments and FedEx Freight for large-volume deliveries.
In his personal life, Smith married twice and had ten children. One of his daughters, Windland, pursued a career as a nature photographer and worked with National Geographic before passing away in 2005 at the age of 35. His son Richard followed in his father’s footsteps in the family business, becoming COO International and CEO Airline at FedEx.
Smith led FedEx as CEO for nearly fifty years, stepping down in June 2022 and being succeeded by Raj Subramaniam. He then remained as executive chairman, focusing on board governance and global strategic issues, including sustainability, innovation and public policy. Under his leadership, FedEx became the first American company to reach $10 billion in profit. At the time of his death, FedEx was an $87.7 billion global company serving over 220 countries.
Smith not only created a giant in air cargo transport but also transformed the parcel delivery industry, founding the overnight delivery sector and reshaping the global logistics landscape. His vision of an integrated air-ground delivery system not only revolutionised the transport industry but also contributed to a shift towards more time-sensitive deliveries and reduced reliance on large inventories and warehouses among American businesses.
