Fred Smith
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
S was out.
Smith would remain chairman.
This is what genuine loyalty looks like in practice.
Not words, but action.
When your team is willing to walk into unemployment rather than work without you, you've built something incredibly special.
This doesn't happen by accident.
It happens when you've earned it.
Federal Express would turn its first profit in July 1975.
$55,000.
After years of losses totaling nearly 30 million, they were finally in the black.
The transformation came from three particular decisions.
First, Smith fought for deregulation.
The government had limited cargo planes to 7,500 pounds.
And Smith convinced both parties, the Republican and Democrat Party, to support change.
In 1977, Congress passed the Federal Express Bill, deregulating air cargo completely.
Second, he institutionalized his Vietnam philosophy.
People serve as profit in that order.
When cash ran out, employees worked without pay.
Pilots used personal credit cards for fuel.
Managers mortgaged houses.