STEPHEN MOORE: When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be There Overnight
In many ways, Fred Smith — entrepreneur extraordinaire, innovator, and super patriot, at a time when we so needed patriots — was the Ben Franklin of our time. He was rightfully proud of his time served as a United…
In many ways, Fred Smith — entrepreneur extraordinaire, innovator, and super patriot, at a time when we so needed patriots — was the Ben Franklin of our time.
He was rightfully proud of his time served as a United States Marine serving in combat in Vietnam.
Fred Smith came up with the idea of FedEx (Federal Express) while he was a student at Yale University. In a now-famous undergraduate economics paper, he proposed an integrated air-to-ground system specifically designed to meet time-sensitive shipping needs — something that didn’t exist at the time. Although his professor reportedly gave the paper a mediocre grade, Smith later turned the concept into a revolutionary business.
He founded Federal Express in 1971, and the company officially began operations in 1973. Smith’s vision transformed the logistics industry and helped pioneer the modern express delivery model.
The financing, the logistical expertise, the grit and gumption, audacity and stick-to-it-ism of pulling this off and building the mightiest transportation company across the globe is unimaginable.
Who else could have pulled it off?
He “absolutely, positively” masterminded one of the most memorable and effective advertising slogans and campaigns in TV history.
He had a healthy contempt of big and bureaucratic government and often only half-joked that he was blessed with competing against one of the most incompetent bureaucracies ever invented: the U.S. Postal Service. FedEx’s on-time arrival record was far superior to the Postal Service or any airline.
Fed Ex had more planes than any other enterprise in the world other than the U.S. Air Force. The company fully takes over scores of airport operations throughout the night. He used his own weather service, own air traffic control system, and his own security system because “the government isn’t reliable.”
He employed half a million Americans and made multi-millionaires out of many thousands of investors.