Former Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Fedex
Search every verified Frederick Smith interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Frederick Smith, founder and former CEO of FedEx, has continued to comment on trade, economic policy, and supply chain issues in public appearances. In a January 2023 conversation at MIT, Smith said he was personally disappointed by China's shift toward a "state directed Mercantile path" after he had pushed for its entry into the WTO. He also stated that "work is now optional" in the U.S., attributing inflation and slow growth to a lack of blue-collar labor willing to work. Smith expressed support for a carbon tax and said FedEx does not view Amazon as a direct competitor. In earlier appearances, Smith advocated for infrastructure investment, calling the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill "a step in the right direction." He said the U.S. should not abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership but improve it, and warned that withdrawal from NAFTA would have "massive repercussions." Smith has repeatedly called for lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate and adopting a territorial tax system, arguing that the current code discourages investment. He also stated that 85% of U.S. job losses over the past 25 years were due to automation, not trade.
“Everything I did at FedEx was just borrowed from what I learned in Marine Corp about motivating people and all of the principles of leadership the Marine Corps taught. It's the best leadership school in the world. I think at the end of the day the modern Marine Corps which really came about in World War I... the Marine...”
“The first piece of advice would be to know your business, to take seriously the training, tactical training and the leadership training that the Marine Corps gave to you. Secondarily I would tell them to listen to your NCOs because they've got the experience that you don't have. And the third thing is to take care of y...”
“You're given the most sacred trust in the world by giving to you 40 or 50 young Marines' lives and you better damn well know your stuff and not waste any of them because your job... the whole objective is to go kill the other guy. Nobody wants to go and get killed for his country; the whole objective is to go kill the...”
“The first is we have the most unique system of higher education of any country in the world and our MITs and UCLAs's and University of Chicago and Yales and Harvard and and uh and Princeton's and Stanfords combined with the entrepreneurs that come out of them and the venture capital business that we have in this countr...”
In this engaging conversation at the 2010 John Wooden Global Leadership Awards, Federal Express Chairman, CEO and founder Frederick W. Smith shares his insights on leadership, discipline, and the importance of teamwork. Moderated by Deborah Rogers, this conversation delves into the principles that have guided Smith through over 35 years of leading a global company with 300,000 employees at that time. *Key Topics:* The importance of discipline and continuous learning in leadership How Smith's Marine Corps service influenced his management style Wooden’s ethos of teamwork and the collective ef…
Frederick W. Smith, Founder and Executive Chairman of FedEx Corporation, embodies a legacy steeped in service, leadership, and a commitment to excellence. Born in Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Smith entered Yale to pursue a degree in economics in 1962. After graduating from Yale in 1966, he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, which included two tours of duty in Vietnam. Smith’s valor and dedication shone brightly during this time in the Marine Corps, where he served as a rifle platoon leader, a company commander and forward air controller (FAC) in the OV-10. Honored wi…
When Fred Smith started his next-day delivery company Federal Express in 1973, flying packages to customers, it was not an overnight success. Today FedEx moves 15 million packages a day aboard its fleet of aircraft, through hubs in Memphis and other cities, to more than 200 countries around the world. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin talks with Smith about how the former Marine captain and decorated Vietnam veteran transformed the shipping industry. @FedEx #FredSmith "CBS Sunday Morning" features stories on the arts, music, nature, entertainment, sports, history, science…
Sam Hendel, Co-Founder of Accelerate Yale and Yale Angels, interviewed Frederick W. Smith, founder and Executive Chairman ...
To kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, FedEx Founder and Executive Chairman Frederick W. Smith sits down with MIT CTL Director Yossi Sheffi for a "fireside chat"-style conversation. An industry visionary, the concepts of package tracking and even overnight shipping were unheard of in 1973, when FedEx began operations. CTL was founded the same year and has since become one of the world's foremost supply chain and logistics research centers. Smith and Sheffi reflect on the innovations and surprises of the past 50 years, how globalization…
Founder and executive chairman of FedEx Corporation Frederick W. Smith, hosted by UNC Global Affairs, gives a special lecture to the Carolina community in honor of the 15th anniversary of the opening of the FedEx Global Education Center. During this Diplomatic Discussion, Smith made the case that an anti-trade narrative has emerged and issued a call to action to protect national security interests. To read more about the event: https://global.unc.edu/news-story/fed...
FedEx founder and executive chairman Fred Smith weighs in on the state of the U.S. economy on 'Kudlow.' #FoxBusiness #kudlow Subscribe to Fox Business! https://bit.ly/2D9Cdse Watch more Fox Business Video: https://video.foxbusiness.com Watch Fox Business Network Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/ FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street. Headquartered in New York — the business capital of the world — FBN launched in October 2007 and is one of the leading business networks on televis…
FedEx founder Fred Smith announces on ‘Making Money with Charles Payne' that he will step down and COO Raj Subramaniam will replace him as CEO. #FOXBusiness Subscribe to Fox Business! https://bit.ly/2D9Cdse Watch more Fox Business Video: https://video.foxbusiness.com Watch Fox Business Network Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/ FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street. Headquartered in New York — the business capital of the world — FBN launched in October 2007 and is one of the leadi…
FedEx CEO Fred Smith says the company can make holiday deliveries on time, as long as it can hire the employees needed to do so. "Face the Nation" is America's premier Sunday morning public affairs program. The broadcast is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television, having debuted November 7, 1954 on CBS. Every Sunday, "Face the Nation" moderator and CBS News senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan welcomes leaders, newsmakers, and experts to a lively round table discussion of current events and the latest news. Subscribe to the "Face the Nation" You…
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