Frederick W Smith

Frederick W. Smith, who revolutionized express delivery as the founder and longtime chief executive of FedEx, a company that became so ubiquitous its name gained currency as a verb, died June 21 2025 in Memphis. He was 80. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx since January 1998; Chairman of FedEx Express since 1975; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Express from 1983 to January 1998; Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Express from 1977 to January 1998; President of FedEx Express from 1971 to 1975. Frederick Wallace Smith was born in Marks, Mississippi, on Aug. 11, 1944. Smith graduated from Yale in 1966 and served four years in the Marine Corps, including aboard an OV-10 Bronco observation plane in Vietnam. His first marriage, to Linda Black Grisham, ended in divorce. According to FedEx, survivors include his wife, Diane Smith; nine children, Stacey Rokas, Laurie Hooper, Richard Smith, Kathleen Forbush, Molly Heussenstamm, Arthur Smith, Rachel O’Neal, Sam Atkinson and Cannon Smith; 31 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His daughter Windland Smith Rice, a nature photographer, died of a heart disorder in 2005, at age 35.