Frederick Wallace Smith (born August 11, 1944, in Marks, Mississippi), or Fred Smith, is the founder, chairman, 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.
Smith is the son of James Frederick Smith — who (before age 20) dropped his first name, expressing a strong preference to b...
more
Frederick Wallace Smith (born August 11, 1944, in Marks, Mississippi), or Fred Smith, is the founder, chairman, 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.
Smith is the son of James Frederick Smith — who (before age 20) dropped his first name, expressing a strong preference to be known as Fred or Frederick — the founder of the Toddle House restaurant chain and the Smith Motor Coach Company, in which in 1931 The Greyhound Corporation bought a controlling interest, and which Greyhound renamed as the Dixie Greyhound Lines. Fred Smith, the father, died while Smith the son was only 4, and the boy was raised by his mother and uncles.
Smith had a great interest in flying, and became an amateur pilot as a teen. He attended elementary school at Presbyterian Day School and high school at Memphis University School.
In 1962,...
less
