The American spirit has always been defined as hard work, persistence, and a little bit of luck while taking risks - as exemplified by Frederick W. Smith, founder of Federal Express.
FedEx was just a twinkle in Smith’s eye when he first envisioned his groundbreaking overnight delivery company in a term paper he wrote while attending Yale. He dreamed of a company with company with its own depots, airplanes, posting stations and delivery vans – all working together to enable a service that was, at the time, unheard of. In fact, Smith received a “C” on the paper. His professor liked the concept, but he deemed it unfeasible. He was almost correct.
Early in FedEx’s history, there was a point in time where the company account held only $5,000 and, due to inflated fuel prices in the 70s, was faced with a staggering $24,000 fuel bill for their planes. Smith failed to secure a loan from General Dynamics and his company was all but dead and grounded.
But, he refused to accept defeat. He took a chance that not many would be brave, or foolish, enough to take. Smith flew to Las Vegas and bet all $5,000 on a game of Black Jack…. And won. He procured an additional $27,000 and was able to fuel all of his planes that following Monday.
One of FedEx’s founding executives, Robert Frock, remembers the event clearly. He wrote about it in his book, saying:
“I asked Fred where the funds had come from, and he responded, ‘The meeting with the General Dynamics board was a bust and I knew we needed money for Monday, so I took a plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.’ I said, ‘You mean you took our last $5,000-- how could you do that?’ He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘What difference does it make? Without the funds for the fuel companies, we couldn't have flown anyway.’ Fred's luck held again. It was not much, but it came at a critical time and kept us in business for another week."
That week was all they needed. From that point and on, FedEx has been wildly successful. It is the corporate giant that pioneered an entirely different package delivery industry and has profited, accordingly. Today, the company is worth over $47 billion and Smith himself is worth $4 billion. Smith’s story is what the American dream is all about.
Here's an interview from Smith where he answers questions about his founding of FedEx: