Chamber Honors FedEx's Fred Smith

FedEx Founder, Chairman, President, and CEO Fred Smith makes remarks after being presented with the Dennis Sheehan Award at the U.S. Chamber board meeting on March 4. The award, named for the late Chamber director, is given to a person or organization that exemplifies outstanding leadership and commitment to the Chamber and to the American business community.

 

Smith, one of America's most successful entrepreneurs, developed the idea of FedEx as a Yale University undergraduate in 1965. After a four-year stint flying combat missions in Vietnam, Smith returned home to build his dream into a global company that today has about 290,000 employees and independent contractors worldwide handling some 7.5 million daily deliveries in 220 countries. Smith is a vocal proponent of regulatory reform and an open trading system.