Fifty years after he founded the company, Frederick Smith announced Monday that he would step down as FedEx's CEO in June
Fifty years after he founded the company, Frederick Smith announced Monday that he would step down as FedEx’s CEO in June.
Raj Subramaniam, the current president and chief operating officer, will succeed Smith, according to a news release from FedEx.
“FedEx has changed the world by connecting people and possibilities for the last 50 years,” Smith said, in a statement posted to the company’s website. “As we look toward what’s next, I have a great sense of satisfaction.”
A former Marine officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, Smith came up with the idea for FedEx from a term paper he wrote in 1965 while he was an undergraduate at Yale University. The paper, which explained how companies could deliver items faster if they changed their shipping strategies, was given a C grade because Smith’s professor didn’t think the strategy was viable, according to Entrepreneur magazine.
In its first 26 months of business, the company lost $29 million. Smith has recounted how he was able to keep the company afloat with money he won by gambling in Las Vegas. In one story told in a memoir by a former FedEx executive, Robert Frock, Smith took the company’s last $5,000 to Vegas, and brought back winnings of $27,000 — money that allowed FedEx to pay a fuel bill and keep the company afloat.
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