FedEx is the company that pioneered the overnight-delivery business, a global logistics giant that moves more than 17 million shipments a day across more than 220 countries and territories.[1] Frederick W. Smith founded the company as Federal Express in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1971, and it began overnight operations out of Memphis, Tennessee, in 1973.[2] The early years were nearly fatal: with the company down to its last $5,000 and turned away by an investor, Smith flew to Las Vegas, won $27,000 at blackjack, and wired it back to keep the company going. He later said the win was not decisive but was an omen that things would get better.[3] Headquartered in Memphis, FedEx reported revenue of $94.7 billion for its fiscal year ended May 31, 2026.[4] Its founder, a decorated Marine who died in 2025,[1] gave the company a distinct identity tied to American enterprise, aviation, and military service.
- Early on, founder Fred Smith took the company's last $5,000 to Vegas and won $27,000 at blackjack
- Corporate PAC gave $706,000 to candidates in 2023-2024, leaning Republican
- Smith was a decorated Marine who said FedEx's culture came from the Corps, not Yale
- FedEx Freight spun off into a separate public company, NYSE: FDXF, June 2026
- Founder Fred Smith died June 21, 2025; Raj Subramaniam now leads the company
Quick Take
FedEx's corporate PAC gave $706,000 to federal candidates in the 2023-2024 cycle, spread across both parties: its giving to House candidates was nearly even, while its Senate giving leaned more Republican.[5] The company's deeper political identity came from its founder, Fred Smith, a decorated Vietnam veteran who said he ran FedEx on what he learned in the Marine Corps rather than at Yale.[6] Smith gave mostly to Republicans while occasionally backing moderate Democrats, and in 2018 he publicly blamed politicians, including President Trump, for trade policies he said were slowing the economy.[7] That same year he attended a White House signing ceremony with Trump.[8] Smith died on June 21, 2025, at age 80, and the company is now led by CEO Raj Subramaniam.[1]
Where the Money Goes
FedEx maintains an active corporate political action committee. In the 2023-2024 election cycle the FedEx Corp PAC contributed $706,000 directly to federal candidates, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by OpenSecrets, splitting that money 53.97 percent to Republicans and 45.40 percent to Democrats.[5] The tilt varied by chamber: 52.65 percent of the PAC's House giving went to Republicans, close to even, while 63.55 percent of its Senate giving did.[5] It spread money across leaders of both parties, giving to figures as far apart as Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Republican Speaker Mike Johnson.[5]
FedEx's lobbying tells a more pointed story than its candidate giving. The company is a long-running federal lobbying client, with annual totals on record back to 1998, and the bills it lobbied on in 2024 track its business almost exactly: FAA reauthorization and aviation policy, US Postal Service legislation, trade and tariff rules on low-value imports, truck parking, and the Labor Department's rule on whether workers count as employees or independent contractors.[9] For a company whose business depends on aviation, postal, and trade rules, those fights matter more to the bottom line than partisan alignment does, and the lobbying record reflects issues rather than ideology.
The Founder's Politics
For most of its history FedEx was inseparable from Fred Smith, and his personal politics are part of how the company is understood. Smith served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine officer and was decorated with the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts.[1] He told the Associated Press in 2023 that everything he did running FedEx came from his time in the Marines, not from what he learned at Yale.[6] His documented political giving went mostly to Republicans, including Mitt Romney in 2012 and John Kasich and Jeb Bush in 2016, though he also crossed the aisle to support moderate Democrats such as Senators Jon Tester and Heidi Heitkamp.[7]
That record did not make him a reliable ally of every Republican policy. In December 2018, after FedEx cut its profit forecast, Smith blamed politicians, including President Trump, for tariffs and other choices he said were slowing trade and growth, and he regularly used earnings calls to champion free trade.[7] Earlier that year, in July 2018, he attended the White House ceremony where Trump signed an executive order creating the National Council for the American Worker.[8]
These are the documented activities of the company's founder as an individual, framed here as his own record rather than as current corporate positions. Smith stepped aside as CEO in 2022 and served as executive chairman until his death on June 21, 2025.[1] He rarely publicized his giving, but he backed causes including the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation and Memphis institutions such as the University of Memphis.[6] In October 2025, President Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.[1]
Leadership and Finances
FedEx is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FDX. Raj Subramaniam became president and CEO in 2022, when Smith stepped aside.[1][4] For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2026, FedEx reported revenue of $94.7 billion and net income of $4.43 billion, up from $87.9 billion and $4.09 billion a year earlier, and it returned about $2.2 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.[4] Those totals still include FedEx Freight, which became a separate company the next day. FedEx has also moved its fiscal year end from May 31 to December 31, effective June 1, 2026, so it is reporting a one-time June-through-December transition period before switching to calendar-year reporting.[4]
Recent News
In June 2025, FedEx's founder and executive chairman, Fred Smith, died at 80.[1] A year later, on June 1, 2026, FedEx completed the spin-off of FedEx Freight, its less-than-truckload trucking business, into a separate publicly traded company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FDXF. FedEx distributed 80.1 percent of the new company's shares to its stockholders and kept a 19.9 percent stake that it says it will dispose of within 24 months.[10] The separation lets investors value the trucking business apart from FedEx's express and ground parcel operations.
Where to Find Them
Customers can ship and track packages through fedex.com. The company reaches more than 220 countries and territories[1] and offers a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services.[10]
Corrections
Correction, September 23, 2026: An earlier version of this profile presented FedEx's roughly $92 billion in annual revenue as the company's size after the FedEx Freight spin-off, when that figure included FedEx Freight. The profile now uses fiscal 2026 results. We also added sources for several claims that had none, and moved one "In This Article" highlight into the body so the story it summarizes appears there with a source. These corrections did not change the profile's rating.
Footnotes
[1] FedEx Newsroom, "Frederick W. Smith, Visionary Founder of FedEx, Dies at 80," June 22, 2025. https://newsroom.fedex.com/newsroom/global-english/frederick-w-smith-visionary-founder-of-fedex-dies-at-80
[2] FedEx, "History" (company timeline), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.fedex.com/en-bg/about/company-info/history.html
[3] Ann Schmidt, Fox Business, "How Fred Smith rescued FedEx from bankruptcy by playing blackjack in Las Vegas," July 19, 2020. https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/fred-smith-fedex-blackjack-winning-formula
[4] FedEx Corp, "FedEx Reports Strong Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Results," company newsroom, June 23, 2026. https://newsroom.fedex.com/fedex-reports-strong-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results
[5] OpenSecrets, FedEx Corp PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates (C00068692), 2023-2024 cycle, accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/fedex-corp/C00068692/candidate-recipients/2024
[6] NBC News / Associated Press, "FedEx founder Fred Smith, a Marine Corps veteran who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80," June 22, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fedex-founder-fred-smith-dies-rcna214338
[7] Bloomberg, via Fortune, "FedEx CEO Fred Smith Blames Trump, Other Politicians for Slowing Economy," December 19, 2018. https://fortune.com/2018/12/19/fedex-ceo-fred-smith-trump-politicians-slowing-economy/
[8] NPR / Associated Press, "FedEx founder Fred Smith, who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80," June 22, 2025 (AP photo caption documents the July 19, 2018 White House signing ceremony). https://www.npr.org/2025/06/22/nx-s1-5441684/fedex-founder-fred-smith-who-revolutionized-package-delivery-dies-at-80
[9] OpenSecrets, FedEx Corp Federal Lobbying Profile (bills lobbied, 2024), accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/fedex-corp/lobbying?id=d000000089
[10] FedEx Corp, "FedEx Completes Spin-Off of FedEx Freight," company newsroom, June 1, 2026. https://newsroom.fedex.com/newsroom/global-english/fedex-completes-spin-off-of-fedex-freight
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