FedEx is the one of the first companies in the world to offer overnight delivery services. The company was the first of its kind and it quickly became one of the richest and most known companies in the world. Each year the company ships in excess of 1.2 Billion Packages. During its early days the company struggled financially but then went they into a period where the success came and placed them in a strong positon going forward.
Luckily for FedEx they were saved and not in the normal way you would suspect. Instead of being bailed out by the government, FedEx saw their own CEO Frederick W. Smith hit the Las Vegas Strip twenty years ago and win an incredible amount of money. The money he won was put into an investors’ interest banking account and throughout the years the interest in the account grew. That amount grew to such an amount that Mr. Smith was able to bail out his company.
Frederick W. Smith is the first CEO in Northern America to do such a thing versus being like so many large employers who often turn to local and federal governments to help save them from financial disaster or from potential layoffs. Mr. Smith couldn’t be reached for comment as this information was not commonly known nor does he wish to discuss the matter further. It is safe to say though that this is one of those interesting tidbits of information in a company’s history that many will look upon down the road. It is suspected not many others will follow that path either.