Every night several hundred planes bearing a purple，white，and orange design touch down at Memphis Airport，in Tennessee. Crews unload the planes’ cargo of ，on average，more than half a million parcels and letters，picked up from locations all over the United States earlier in the day. The packages and envelopes are rapidly sorted according to address，then loaded onto other aircraft and flown to their destinations，to be hand delivered—many within 24 hours of Leaving their senders. This sequence of events is the culmination of a dream of Frederick W. Smith，the founder，president，chief executive officer，and chairman of the board of the FedEx Corp.—known originally as Federal Express—the largest and most successful overnight delivery service in the world. Conceived when he was in college and now in its 28th year of operation，Smith’s brainchild has become the standard for door-to-door package delivery.
Known for his geniality as well as his business acumen，Smith is reportedly held in high regard by his competitors as well as his employees.“I always said I thought one of the most brilliant parts of Fred Smith was his ability to deal with each person individually，”Tuck morse，a former Federal Express lawyer，recalled. Indeed，3.2 percent of the entire Memphis workforce is made up of FedEx employees，who are said to have been drawn by the company’s high wages and family ethos.“The first thing people do when they move to Memphis is apply for a job at Federal Express，”one FedEx worker said.“Then they go get another job until one opens up here.”
Leadership
Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx. Thirty-five years later，he’s still at the helm. He attributes the success of the company to leadership，pure and simple—something he picked up from his years in the military，and from his family.
Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family on August 11，1944 in Mississippi. After his father’s death，when he was four years old，his mother，Sally Smith，often talked to the boy about her late husband.“I kept his father alive in his mind all those years，”she recalled.“I told him how much big Fred loved him，and how much he wanted him to have the best education possible. And how much he was certain his son would surpass his achievements in business.”
As a child，Smith suffered from Legg-Calve-Pthes disease，which is characterized by the interruption in the blood supply to the thighbones and the consequent improper development of one or both legs. Unable to walk normally，Smith was picked on by bullies，and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his crutch. Reportedly cured of the disease by the age of l0，he became a star athlete，playing football，basketball，and baseball.
Smith’s grandfather had captained a Mississippi River steamboat；his father built the Greyhound Bus Linein the South，expanding his fortune along with the routes. Smith says he was just four when his father died，“so he probably served as a near mythical role model for me.”
Growing up in Memphis，Tennessee，Smith says，“I didn’t know I wanted to go into business，but I knew I wanted a leadership position. That appealed to me.”
At 15，he was operating a crop-duster over the flat fields of the Mississippi Delta.As a student at Yale University，he helped resurrect the Yale flying club；its alumni had populated naval aviation history，including the famous “millionaires’ unit”in World War I. Smith took care of the club’s business and ran a small air-charter operation in New Haven.
With little time to study，his scholastic performance suffered，but Smith never stopped looking for the“big idea.”
He thought he had found it when he wrote a term paper for an economics class. He outlined an idea for a transportation company that would guarantee overnight delivery of small，time-sensitive goods—replacement parts and medical supplies—to major U.S. cities. The professor was not impressed.
Smith was certain he was onto something，but it would be a while before he could turn his idea into reality.
A Central Hub
Smith completed two tours in Vietnam，eventually flying more than 200 ground—support missions. While on his first tour，in Vietnam，he survived an ambush that left most of his company dead. During the assault he became separated from his gun，but he managed to retrieve the weapon in time to bring down a Vietcong soldier who was about to attack him. He had also learned a valuable lesson from the war.“There’re only three things you gotta remember，”he said，“shoot，move，and communicate.”
Home from Vietnam，Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network through a central hub，the efficiency could be enormous，whether the system involved moving packages and letters or people and planes. With an investment from his father’s company，as well as a chunk of his own inheritance，Smith bought his first Dassault Falcon planes，and in 1971 formed the Federal Express Corporation.
The early days of Federal Express were marked by extreme frugality and enormous financial losses. It was not uncommon for FedEx drivers to pay for gasoline for their vans out of their own pockets. But despite such problems，Smith always showed concern for the welfare for his employees (as he has continued to do ever since).“Even when we didn’t have the money，even when there weren’t couches in this office and electric typewriters，we had a good medical plan for our people.”He recalled.
