FedEx Founder Fred Smith, Who Revolutionized The Courier Industry, Passes Away At 80

Fred Smith, who revolutionized the courier industry by launching and running FedEx Corp (FDX), died on Saturday, according to a company statement. He was 80.

"It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I share that Frederick W. Smith, our founder and executive chairman, died earlier today," CEO Raj Subramaniam wrote on the company's website.

Smith is said to have faced intense pushback, personal losses, and a near bankruptcy in FedEx's early days when United Parcel Service and the U.S. Postal Service had a duopoly.

After serving in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine, Smith acquired an aircraft maintenance company and a few commercial jets to start FedEx, which began delivery operations in 1973.

FedEx pioneered overnight delivery, including innovations like bar codes and real-time package tracking, as well as contract-based models, which are widely used today. This forced competitors to adopt faster deliveries, which were further enhanced in the last decade by Amazon, an e-commerce disruptor.

FedEx has 500,000 employees and thousands more through third-party contract firms and handles 15 million parcels daily. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1978 and clocked over $80 billion in revenue last year.

According to Bloomberg, Smith was executive chairman and the largest individual shareholder of FedEx, with around 8% of the stock. His son, Richard W. Smith, is the chief executive officer of FedEx's airline.

"$FDX Working for Fred Smith (36 yrs) was a pleasure. A great human being and wonderful business leader," a Stocktwits user posted.

At the time of his death, Smith had an estimated net worth of $5.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman until his passing. During his tenure, FedEx’s stock soared more than 20-fold.

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