Frederick W. Smith

Frederick Wallace “Fred” Smith is the founder, chairman, president, and CEO of FedEx, originally known as Federal Express. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

• FedEx founder Fred Smith came up with the idea for the company for a term paper at Yale in 1965.
• After graduation, Smith served in Vietnam with the Marines. He returned home and launched FedEx in 1971.
• FedEx lost $29 million in its first 26 months, so Smith flew to Vegas and won $27,000 at the blackjack tables, enough to keep the business afloat.
• The company now generates $65 billion in annual revenue.
• Sales continue to rise even as competition increases: Amazon is reportedly testing its own delivery service.
• Smith’s production company, Alcon Entertainment, produced the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049.