FedEx founder Fred Smith, the man who transformed parcel delivery, dies at 80

Mr. Frederick Smith, who bet everything he had on a plan to revolutionize freight transport, courting disaster early on but ultimately winning vindication in the form of power in Washington, billions in personal wealth and changes in how people all over the world send and receive goods, died on June 21. He was 80.

- Alex Traub

NEW YORK - Mr. Frederick Smith, who bet everything he had on a plan to revolutionize freight transport, courting disaster early on but ultimately winning vindication in the form of power in Washington, billions in personal wealth and changes in how people all over the world send and receive goods, died on June 21. He was 80.

His death was announced by FedEx in a statement that did not provide further details.

FedEx was conceived in a paper that Mr. Smith wrote as a Yale University undergraduate in 1965. He argued that an increasingly automated economy would depend on fast and dependable door-to-door shipping of small packages containing computer parts. He got a C.