The pantheon of great American innovators, entrepreneurs, and industrialists includes Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. Exceptional and among in their ranks is Frederick W. Smith, the Founder and long serving Chairman and CEO of FedEx Corporation, who passed away this past weekend.
Fred Smith invented the company that reimagined "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight,” and shrank the world bringing global business and wealth to countless people. He led the company for four decades.
As a businessman, his accomplishments speak for themselves, but he was humble: Walking anywhere, we would invariably encounter a FedEx driver or delivery worker—he would always pause to engage them in conversation.
He was a devoted family man. He would go from taking a call from a world leader, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, or famous football coach, to a family member—which always took precedent. His son Arthur is the current Offensive Coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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