Short answers, pulled from the story.
Frederick W. Smith founded Federal Express Corporation in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1972. Smith, a former Marine and Yale graduate, proposed the hub-and-spoke system in 1971 before officially establishing the company the following year.
Frederick W. Smith chose Memphis, Tennessee, as the operational base in 1973 because of its geographic centrality and reliable weather patterns. These factors were critical for the success of the hub-and-spoke model that defines the company's logistics network.
The name Federal Express was officially shortened to FedEx in 1994 as a marketing decision to adopt a nickname already in common use. This rebranding coincided with a major corporate restructuring that expanded services to include ground shipping and technology solutions.
The FedEx logo designed in 1994 by Lindon Leader contains a subliminal right-pointing arrow hidden in the negative space between the letters E and X. This detail symbolizes speed, precision, and forward movement while the purple and orange colors represent the air and ground divisions respectively.
In December 2007, the Internal Revenue Service investigated the FedEx Ground Division for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, a move that could have cost the company 319 million dollars in back taxes. The company also faced criticism for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and was indicted in 2014 for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
FedEx plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 through a commitment to invest 2 billion dollars in sustainable energy initiatives. The company aims to transition to an all-electric ground fleet by 2040 and has committed to being the first customer to take delivery of General Motors' electric Zevo delivery vans.