MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.<\/p>\n
FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the post office could. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corp. veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that combined air and ground service and became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it. <\/p>\n
Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx grew into a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022<\/a> but remained executive chairman.<\/p>\n Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a “hub and spokes” system, as it became known.<\/p>\n The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses.<\/p>\n Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured.<\/p>\n At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn’t work out.<\/p>\n In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 U.S. cities.<\/p>\n Smith’s father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat. <\/p>\n