One of the world's top ten express delivery companies managed

Niti998

One of the world's top ten express delivery companies managed to come back to life by playing blackjack.

FedEx, everyone knows it as one of the largest express transportation companies globally. However, in its early days, FedEx faced numerous financial challenges and came close to bankruptcy. The founder of FedEx, Frederick Smith, decided to gamble when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, and surprisingly, this decision led to his successful turnaround, transforming FedEx into a company with a market value of over $50 billion.

Frederick Smith had a passion for airplanes since childhood. While majoring in economics at Yale University, he wrote a thesis on establishing efficient air transportation. In his thesis, he mentioned that packages couldn't be directly transported to their destinations and required multiple companies. Some companies had crucial and time-sensitive shipments, and the market needed companies to use airplanes for direct transportation. His professor, however, didn't view his idea favorably. At that time, the U.S. government had many restrictions on air transport, and the cost of using airplanes for transportation was considered too high. Smith was deemed unrealistic, and he received a grade C for his thesis. Nevertheless, this thesis laid the foundation for Smith's later creation of FedEx.

Once Smith had enough capital, along with $80 million in debt and equity financing, FedEx was finally established successfully. In its early stages, FedEx had eight planes, covering 35 cities, marking the first step in developing air transportation. Unfortunately, Smith encountered the oil crisis in the first two years of entrepreneurship. With a significant rise in oil prices, they couldn't control costs, and FedEx faced losses of millions of dollars, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Despite being in a dire situation due to the oil crisis, FedEx was still denied refinancing as various industries feared the crisis. With only $5,000 left in funds and insufficient money to pay for airplane fuel, Smith sought investors every day but to no avail.

In despair, Smith made a decision at the lowest point of his life - to gamble in Las Vegas. In the casinos of Las Vegas, he took $5,000, stayed for an entire weekend, continuously playing blackjack, hoping to earn more money. In the end, he successfully turned the remaining $5,000 into $27,000, providing enough funds for the company to continue operating for another week. Following this, Smith secured a financing opportunity, obtaining an additional $1 million in the same week. Three years later, FedEx reported its first profit of $3.6 million. Subsequently, the U.S. government lifted restrictions on the aviation transport industry, significantly increasing the demand for freight transportation. FedEx expanded its services to 130 cities, primarily transporting emergency parts, plasma, transplant organs, pharmaceuticals, and other items. Now, FedEx is one of the world's top express companies, with a market value exceeding $50 billion.

977Iti

As long as there is a desire to achieve, there is the possibility of a comeback, like a fish turning over.

Kamal531

So, it turns out that gambling can have a promising future too.

Samiksha

Everyone has moments when luck is on their side and they win. The key is that after winning, they didn't continue gambling.