Question 1

True or false: Frederick Smith founded FedEx after a college term paper described a hub-and-spoke delivery system.

Accepted Answer

True. Smith’s Yale economics paper proposed an air cargo hub; he later implemented it as FedEx, though the paper reportedly got a C.

Question 2

True or false: Frederick Smith served as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in Vietnam before starting FedEx.

Accepted Answer

True. Smith flew combat missions in Vietnam as a Marine pilot, an experience that influenced his logistics discipline.

Question 3

True or false: Frederick Smith was born into poverty and built FedEx from scratch with no family money.

Accepted Answer

False. Smith was born into a wealthy family; his father founded a restaurant chain and left a trust fund that helped launch FedEx.

Question 4

True or false: Frederick Smith was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University after graduating from Yale.

Accepted Answer

False. Smith attended Yale but was not a Rhodes Scholar. He later served in the Marines and then founded FedEx.

Question 5

True or false: Frederick Smith’s FedEx saved the U.S. Postal Service during the 1970s by handling its overnight mail.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1970, the U.S. Postal Service contracted FedEx to test overnight delivery, which helped validate FedEx’s model and later led to the Express Mail service.

Question 6

True or false: Frederick Smith’s father was a famous World War II general who inspired his leadership style.

Accepted Answer

False. His father was a businessman, not a general. Smith’s military influence came from his own Marine Corps service in Vietnam.

Question 7

True or false: Frederick Smith personally gambled FedEx’s last $5,000 in Las Vegas to keep the company afloat in 1973.

Accepted Answer

True. When FedEx was nearly bankrupt, Smith flew to Vegas and won $27,000 playing blackjack, buying the company two weeks of payroll.

Question 8

True or false: Frederick Smith once drove a FedEx truck for a year undercover to understand employee working conditions.

Accepted Answer

False. Smith never drove a truck undercover; he did famously work as a courier for one day during a strike to show solidarity.

Frederick Smith Trivia Questions