Raj Subramaniam is named Chief Executive of FedEx
March 29, 2022
This week, Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Corp., was named the company’s Chief Executive Officer. “My recommendation to the (FedEx) Board for several years now, in the event of my death or disability, was…to name Raj Subramaniam as our Chief Executive Officer,” Frederick W. Smith, founder of the company said in a statement.
Smith “founded one of the world’s greatest and most admired companies, and it is my honor and privilege to step into this role and build upon what he has created,” Subramaniam, 56-years-old said in a statement.
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, FedEx delivers documents and parcels for customers and businesses worldwide, as well as provides transportation, e-commerce and business services. In fiscal year ended May 2021, the company earned an operating income of $6 billion on $84 billion in revenues. It has a market value of $62 billion and employs 600,000 around the world.
Founded in 1971, Federal Express began operations two years later with 389 employees who delivered 186 packages using 14 aircraft. In 1981, it started delivering letters overnight, which boosted its image as a global brand. The company has survived and managed to grow profitably even as technological innovations like fax machines and Internet email hurt demand for some of its services.
During the past two years, FedEx has been a beneficiary of the sharp rise in home deliveries due to the pandemic. Reflecting this, its revenues rose 22% in fiscal 2021. The company is working on using drones and autonomous vehicles to deliver packages.
Rajesh (Raj) Subramaniam joined FedEx in 1991 in Memphis. He subsequently moved to Hong Kong, where he oversaw marketing and customer service for the Asia Pacific region. He then took over as president of FedEx Express in Canada before moving back to the U.S. as senior vice president of international marketing.
In 2013, he was promoted to executive vice president of marketing at FedEx Services, and in 2017 was named executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at the parent company. In 2019, Subramaniam was appointed chief executive officer of FedEx Express, a division of FedEx, and the world’s largest express transportation company.
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Subramaniam speaks Malayalam and Tamil. He graduated from Loyola, a school run by the Jesuits in the southern Indian city. His father C.Subramaniam retired as the Director General of Police. His mother B. Kamalammal served as a doctor in the Kerala state Health Services.
In 1987, Raj received an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. In 1989, he earned a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University, and in 1991, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Raj's wife Uma, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, was a FedEx employee; his brother Rajeev and son Arjun Rajesh are also FedEx employees. In his parents apartment in Thiruvananthapuram, there is a photo of FedEx founder Smith with a lamp in front of it. “Smith is God to this family,” Raj’s father told OnManorama.
In fiscal year 2021, Raj Subramaniam earned $8.2 million in salary, stock and other compensation; in fiscal year 2020 he earned $5.2 million. His stock and options in FedEx, owned at fiscal year-end 2021, has a face value of $44 million.
Subramaniam will take over from Smith as CEO on June 1; Smith will serve as the Executive Chairman. “Raj is a brilliant and humble man with great empathy for our various constituencies especially our frontline team members and customers,” Smith said in a statement. “He is a gentleman of impeccable integrity…has a wonderful family and a broad network of friends around the globe.”
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