Frederick W. Smith

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

Frederick Wallace Smith
Born	August 11, 1944 Marks, Mississippi
Occupation	founder of FedEx
Spouse	Diane Smith
Children	five, girls / three, boys and 1 deceased daughter

Frederick Wallace Smith (born August 11, 1944) is the founder, president, and CEO of FedEx, originally known as Federal Express, the first overnight express delivery company in the world, and the largest in the United States. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

1 Early years
2 Marine Corps service
3 Business career
4 Quotes
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading

[edit] Early years

Fred Smith was born on August 11, 1944 in Marks, Mississippi. He had a great interest in flying, and became an amateur pilot as a teen. He attended high school at Memphis University School.

In 1962, Smith entered Yale University. While attending Yale, he wrote a paper for an economics class on the idea of FedEx, and became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Skull and Bones. He received his Bachelor's degree in economics in 1966.

Frederick W. Smith
born August 11, 1944
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart (2)

[edit] Marine Corps service

After graduation, Smith joined in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving for five years as a platoon leader and pilot. As a Marine, he had the opportunity to observe the military's logistics system first hand. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, flying over 200 combat missions.^[1] He was honorably discharged in 1969 rank of Captain, having received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts.^[1]

[edit] Business career

In 1970, 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] Smith continues to serve as chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx.

Smith has served on the boards of several large public companies and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Mayo Foundation Boards. He was formerly chairman of the Board of Governors for the International Air Transport Association and the U.S. Air Transport Association. Smith is chair of the Business Roundtable’s Security Task Force, and a member of the Business Council and the CATO Institute. He served as chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council and is the current chairman of the French-American Business Council. In addition, Smith was named 2006 Person of the Year by the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, served as co-chairman of the U.S. World War II Memorial Project, and was named Chief Executive magazine’s 2004 “CEO of the Year.

Smith has served on the boards of several major organizations, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Mayo Foundation, the U.S. Air Transport Association, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the Cato Institute.

A DKE Fraternity Brother of George W. Bush while at Yale, after Bush's 2000 election, there was some speculation that Smith might be appointed to the Bush Cabinet as Defense Secretary.^[2] 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.

Smith is a supporter of Senator John McCain's 2008 Presidential bid, and has been named McCain's National Co-Chairman of his campaign committee.

[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." — Smith
"This is a guarantee. If we don't get it there, we don't get paid." — Smith
"The concept is interesting and well formed, but in order to earn better than a "C" the idea must be feasible." A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service.