WEBVTT - Raj Subramaniam 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.280 One of the most legendary corporate founders of a company 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:08.119 in the United States the last fifty years was Fred Smith. 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.840 He started FedEx. When he got ready to retire, he 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.400 picked one of his four hundred thousand employees to succeed him. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.240 The employee is Raj Subermnium, who is an Indian immigrant, 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:21.919 a graduate of Syracuse and somebody had a chance to 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.239 sit down with recently to talk about what it's like 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.560 to run FedEx and to succeed the legendary Fred Smith. 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.680 So in the old days twenty five years ago or so, 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.360 if I wanted to send a letter overnight make sure 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.360 it got there, I would do a FedEx and you 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:37.839 you know, you package it up and you send it 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.080 and we get there the next day. But today, with 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:43.400 the Internet, do you really have many letters going overnight 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:43.880 to people? 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.199 No? Letters A very very small piece of the business. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.040 And I think you sent some letters, so thank you 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.120 about that. But it's if you open up our airplanes 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:55.920 and look at them, if you imagine you can fill 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:57.800 it up with letters, that's a lot of letters. So 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.600 it's actually, you know, we move the high value economy 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.240 of the world. In fact, last year we moved roughly 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.959 two trillion dollars worth of goods across the world, and 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:13.800 there are pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense, in textiles. You just think 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.600 about the ones. The value per pound of something is 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.200 very high. They usually go in our system. 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.160 How do you envision your business growing in terms of 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.280 more customers. You've got a pretty good business already. Where 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.520 are you going to take a market share from ups 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.920 or from new entrance to the field. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.920 Well, I think the market itself is growing, and I think, 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.560 you know, I feel like our industry, what we do 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:42.240 as an industry is pretty significant and somewhat you know, 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:47.000 underappreciated actually because it's been taken for granted, especially now 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.960 in this day and age. What we do as an industry, 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.160 whether it is like I said, two or three players 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.040 that we have is I think there's a lot of 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.040 value and within that, I think the market itself is 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:01.600 going to grow. The opportunity for players who really have 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:06.000 standout capabilities to know this is now significant. And I 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.720 think I'm confident in our value proposition that we can 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.200 compete very effectively and win share as well. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:13.960 And how many trucks do you have delivering all these things? 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.559 We have two hundred thousand motorized vehicles around the world. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.120 And are you going to have many trucks that are 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:20.360 driverless at something. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.120 We already have and we are you know, working with 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.560 a partner in Texas where we have autonomous driving being 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.240 tested and we'll see how that goes. 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.440 Yeah, well there's the packages get there quicker. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.160 Well, no, it's the same speed. The important thing is 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.400 the infrastructure we already have. We have six hundred and 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.679 thirty eight facilities right on the highway, so we can 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.200 go facility to the facility on the highway and then can 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.520 be human driver. So that is important component of this 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:49.640 because you know, you don't I don't think we are 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.639 yet able to see an autonomous truck driving down the 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:53.600 street outside here. 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.480 How is your business going to change with AI? Is 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.720 AI going to make it easier harder for your business? 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:00.560 Yeah, it's going to be great because the fact that 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.480 I told you we have two petabytes of data every 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:05.800 single day. We'll realize back in twenty twenty that the 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.440 data as we generate is a valuable asset on its own. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:13.000 So we had gone about, you know, really engineering and 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.079 creating a platform using our data and creating a digital 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.320 twin of fed X and then comes the revolution in 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:22.760 AI and then suddenly that now we're able to use 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.920 that AI to now supercharge our data. So of course 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.080 we're going to use to improve our efficiency, our network 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.120 efficiency and so on. That's that's great, we'll do that's 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.200 that's the base layer, but we're also using it to 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:38.680 differentiate and create new value for our customers so they 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.760 ship more packages. And when they ship more packages, they're 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.720 no AI delivering packages. That's the more jobs. In fact, 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.080 last year we've added about twenty nine thousand jobs in America. 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.760 You know, we're also looking at how do we use 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.880 the insights that we have to orchestrate global supply chain, 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.160 So we're you know, there's opportunity for us to leverage 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.520 the inst that we have from our data and do 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:03.440 different things with it. 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.839 Now with all the data that you have, you've got 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:07.880 as much data as much to any company. And where 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.560 the US economy is, do you see a recession anywhere 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:11.400 in the near future. 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:19.159 I'm more optimistic. There's a stealth industrial growth in this 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.920 economy that's coming up, and we're seeing growth in the 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.280 B to B sector. We'll see how it goes, but 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.560 you know, we if you go back from September twenty 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:30.960 twenty two to the next three and a half years, 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:37.200 the industrial the Ism index was down pretty much thirty 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.560 five or thirty six months. It was a very tough time. 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:43.480 But I think we're starting. You know, there's probably some issues. 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.479 I say, I have a package I want to deliver 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.279 it to the Middle East right now? Can you deliver 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.360 packages in the Middle East because of the war going 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:53.320 on there or do you is that a problem for you? 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:57.000 Yeah, short answer as we can. We have a large 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:03.520 hub in Dubai and obviously we can fly FedEx airplanes 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:07.760 into Dubai or we have an operation into Riad, so 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.200 those things, no, we can't fly. But we have now 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.240 using other carriers to move traffic in and out of 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.000 Middle East as operational, but not the same way that 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:17.000 it was before. 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.480 So today, what do you want to accomplish the most? 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.159 We have changed our focus very clearly, and when we 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:28.640 had to invested ate back in February, you know, we 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:33.240 laid out goals of four percent revenue growth, which is 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.960 you know, modest by historical standards, but something again focused 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.760 on those high value verticals, but generate you know, fourteen 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.279 percent bottom line growth because of o Kager because of 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.280 the transformations that we're doing and generate you know, six 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.680 billion dollars of free cash flow. So that's our financial 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:53.280 those are our financial anchors that we are for. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.880 So I noticed that when you are sometimes you have 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.760 brought the pandas to the National Zoo and you've shipped 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:03.720 some act Is that a for profitable business shipping? Those? 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:11.560 They are the VIPs very important bandits. So you know, 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.760 this is something that we have done for some time 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.359 now and because we can do it. You know, we 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.560 have done I think fifteen or so pandas and we're 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.960 looking at another one from Atlanta as well. So that's 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.160 something that we do and we have you know, we 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.840 have actually the delivery of the plane. It's called the 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:27.680 pandex for us. 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.040 And you do other animals likes or things like. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.160 That, well, you know, we used to do animal charters 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:34.960 the way before, but right now this is this is 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.200 a more let's call it diplomatic move. 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.719 What is the biggest challenge that Wall Street sees you 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.000 as having as the company. What Wall Street analysts are 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.920 always wanting more revenue, more profits? What does Wall Street 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.120 mostly say that you should be doing that You're not 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:49.760 yet doing. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:55.080 You know, some of the investors are frustrated about you know, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.240 lack of generation of free cash flow for example. But 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.080 you have to have investments capital to get the network 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.000 that we've built so far. So the fact that we're 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:07.919 here and we're turning a corner and then, you know, 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.560 I'm not anticipating at this point and going to Moon 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:13.960 or Mars. You know, we have this planet pretty much 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.720 covered and the investments that we need are more incremental. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.960 At this point, I think that realization is starting to 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.560 sink in, and so maybe the frustration is starting to 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:25.840 ebb some somewhat, and I think we also have the 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:27.520 job to do then to put points on the board 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.200 and demonstrate success on a consistent basis on this foundation, 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:32.400 I think we'll be all right. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.320 Let's go through how you became the CEO. So where 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:36.840 were you born. 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.840 I was born in India, in a small state of 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.960 Kerala right on the southern so the Florida. 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:49.000 And were you you always interested in distribution as a boy. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.760 Or something or I didn't. I wouldn't know what that was. No, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:58.880 I was very straightforward, you know, middle class childhood focused 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:02.880 heavily in luckily for me, education plus sport, sport is 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:03.880 very important in my life. 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.080 So were you in a big athlete or something? 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.520 I was pretty good. You were in cricket, cricket and 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:13.040 badminton and athletics. Everyone knew good education was a ticket 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:13.640 to success. 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.720 So you're in India, in the Florida of India, and 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.320 you decide you want to go to a cold weather college, Syracuse. 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.520 How did you wind up at Syracuse? A very good school? 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:23.720 But how did you wind up there? 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.480 Well, first of all, you know, you have to you 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.000 have to imagine a world where there was no Google 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:33.920 or information was let's say, much scarcer. So there was 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.280 a well worn path you go. You know, in India, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.160 you know there's some you get into the indianstry of technology, 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.280 very competitive school and once you're through that, there is 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:44.400 usually a path to get a scholarship to come to 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.079 America and you just get all you get, really information 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.480 is about rankings of top twenty schools in America, and 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.160 Syracuse wasn't in the top twenty four chemical engineering at 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.880 that time. I got a scholarship. Well, two ranks below 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:04.320 which also got a scholarship was Florida. So and I 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.640 learned because this was two ranks about I took Syracuse 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.520 and Garomberg going to the councilate in Mumbai or Bombay 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:13.679 at that time, and the lady says, you know it's 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.160 going to be cold over there, and I said, yeah, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.520 cold whatever, And now you're at Romberg. I had not 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.720 seen temperatures below seventy five degrees in my life. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:24.600 Had you ever seen? 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.040 So when I got this, no, no, no chance. So 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.280 I got to Syracuse. The first day, I'm walking to school, 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.079 it was seventy degrees in sunny and everyone's telling me 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.880 a nice day, and I'm freezing. So it went downhill 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:36.199 from there. 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.520 Did you ever consider transferring when you saw? 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.760 It's kind of kind of crazy because by the time 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.240 the next six months came around, my blood was thick 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:44.760 and I was like, in the forty five degrees, I 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.679 was in my T shirt today. Actually I can deal 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:48.520 with cold pretty good. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.040 So when you graduated, did you say I want to 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.000 be the CEO of FedEx or what did you want 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:53.240 to do? 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:59.000 When I joined FedEx in ninety one and I barely 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.000 knew Memphis, I didn't know anybody in Memphis. If someone 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.240 had told me that this is the job I would 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.360 be doing, then I would have set out a much 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.160 better chance to play for the Indian cricket team. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.000 So how did you get the job? You just interviewed 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:13.040 for a job after college? 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.640 Again, my MBA I was in. I was in campus 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.200 in Austin, Texas. It's kind of a story around it too. 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.959 I was. So I came home one afternoon and my 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.199 apartment made was on the phone and he's basically in 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:25.839 the ones. Now, I can't do that, you know, he 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.040 was leave us, leaving the country. So I said, who's 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.040 on the phone? He said, that's fed X. He said, 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.640 they're you know, coming to campus. Won't to interview him 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.880 and so, but he's not going to be there, So 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.560 I said, give me the damn phone, you know. So 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:43.320 I call over and I say, uh, you know, you 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.240 just talked to my roommate. But he's not done to 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:47.400 me there. But I'm going to be here. Can I 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.960 faction him my resume? I said him already said okay, 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.439 come on over for the interview. So, now this was 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.200 a time when recession was pretty you know, pretty deep 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.560 in ninety one. And also I didn't have a green 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.600 card and that's all that's big that had become an 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.480 issue from other interviews. So when I got to the interview, 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.280 my euphoria had already come back down again. So I 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:09.840 see these two gentlemen, very nice people, across the table, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.720 and I say, I didn't say good morning, I didn't 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.040 say hello. I said I don't have a green card. 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.719 I said, if that's a problem, then you know, I 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.480 don't want to waste your time or mine. And they 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.120 look at me like, what is this is a strange kid, 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:28.959 and say, son, let's first figure out whether you have 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:30.480 what it takes to do a job at FedEx, and 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:31.760 let's worry about the paperwork. 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.400 And then so I got hired, and that's his history. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:35.480 What was your job? 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:40.480 I was the associate marketing analyst for international marketing at FedEx. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:45.439 So it can go lower for the staff. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.360 Position now, all right, so you what year was that? 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:48.720 That was ninety one, all right? 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:50.880 So you work your way up over a series of 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:56.559 jobs and eventually you became the president or chief operating officer. 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.120 Well, yeah, in twenty nineteen, I was the presidency of. 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:05.920 Okay, so your president COO and Fred Smith, the legendary founder, 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.800 is going to be there forever. People thought, did he 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:11.560 call you one day and say, guess what I want 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:12.880 you to be my successor. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:18.280 One day he calls over and says, I'm going to 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:22.720 Los Angeles tomorrow. I've looked at your calendar. You're doing nothing. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:29.280 I want you on the plane with me. And so 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.559 it was I think the day before Valentine's Day or 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:36.520 whatever it was. So I'm there, you know, and then 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.600 he so he walks into the plane and we're going. 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.079 Even before he sits down, in turns on and says, 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.839 so would you like to be the president and CEO 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:47.520 of FedEx? And I'm looking at him. I'll be honored, sir, 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.240 And he sat down for the next because we can't 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:50.960 get out anymore because no, we've got a four and 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:51.600 a half our flight. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:56.520 So you became the president and COO. And then how 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:58.560 many years later before hecame the CEO. 0:12:59.120 --> 0:12:59.800 It's three years. 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.360 I mean, you become the CEO. You say that. Fred, Look, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.679 it's a nice company you built, but I want to 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.200 make some changes, dramatic changes. Was that hard to do 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:09.959 because you made a lot of dramatic changes. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.640 Well, Fred was very very clear about this. This is 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.000 the greatest thing about Fred. And I mean, I mean, 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.679 I'm just going to count myself one of the very 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.000 very fortunate persons in the planet that I have spent 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.439 so much time with him. It was very very clear 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.040 that once the mantle shift is over that okay, you know, 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:29.040 you'll give me all the input you want, but the 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.400 decision making was mine. That meeting with him lasted about 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:33.840 two minutes, all right. 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.600 So when you became the CEO, one of the things 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.640 you did was to focus on profitability. And one of 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.760 the ways you did that is you began to, I guess, 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:45.840 consolidate some of the divisions. Can you explain there were 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.040 four divisions at FedEx. 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:51.360 Yeah, so we were set up in a way to 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.400 operate independently with multiple operating companies and also multiple networks. 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.800 So four parts, right, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.320 and we had FedEx Office things like that, but three 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.000 main companies. The main thing was in the United States. 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.720 There was the reason why it was set up this way. 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.160 And again we talked about, you know, we were started 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.520 off in the air express business. When the ground parcel 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.840 business we were tiny at the turn of the century. 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.320 We were only ten percent market share, so we had 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.600 to make inroads and we need to be a differentiated play. 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.720 So that's what you know. You know, it took we basically, 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.320 you know, grew our market share for many, many, many 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.080 years in a row. But the profile of the traffic 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:35.400 was changing and we needed to consulate our networks. So 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.560 that was the impetus. It was. It was an evolution, really, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.440 and so the time had come to do that, and 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.360 I don't think there was any debate whether we should 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:46.000 do it down, you know, so we started moving in 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.640 this direction. So we consolidated networks, consolidated the operating companies 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:51.960 into one FedEx, and we were you know, this is 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:53.840 a lot a long cross. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.680 So the consolidations occurred, and I think the market capitalizations 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.280 up about sixty three percent. The stock is upset seventy 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.440 three percent, but the revenues are roughly flat. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.000 Well it's that's not the way it works. Because at 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.800 the turn of the twenty nineteen, before the pandemic, we 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.600 were about sixty nine billion dollars in revenue. The next 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.840 two years we grew twenty five billion. So he got 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.880 ninety four billion, Okay, then it went down to eighty 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.840 eight the shadow of the pandemic, and now we're back. 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:21.680 So when you say you're back, yes, but if you 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.680 should look at the longer picture. We've grown about five 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.240 percent cagre since about twenty nineteen, or six percent cares 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:29.960 for us. Part of the culture that Fred drilled into 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.720 a brain is that change is the only constant and 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.600 if you don't like change, you will absolutely hate extinction. 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.880 Fred Smith always said that they fed Ox employees were 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.760 like part of his family, and it was a Berlick 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:45.880 family atmosphere. What do you do to make sure that 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.720 people feel like they're part of a family organization and 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.840 part of a company that's really doing something useful for society. 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:56.240 High performance team, that's what he would say. And we 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:00.360 are always a people first company. In our philosop is 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.800 crystallize in people's service. Profit you take care ever your 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.360 people that provide outstanding service for our customers would generates 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.600 profit for a company. We invest back in our people. 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.640 This unending circle is what has been guiding FedEx from 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.360 the very very good go and it's not a ethereal theory. 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.120 In a service business. We have five hundred thousand team 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.200 members around the world. The difference between those five hundred 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:25.280 thousand team members doing just enough not to get fired 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.960 versus doing an outstanding job for our customers and in 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.320 delivering what we call our prople promise. That's the difference 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:38.640 between failure and success. And so this philosophy is embedded 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.120 into all of us. And a great thing about FedEx 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.600 also is that this culture prevails globally. Anywhere in the world. 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:47.440 Do you go, The language of the country may be different, 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.360 but the language of FedEx is the same that I've 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.920 told and I promise for for sure. We may hire 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:56.640 a new get new people, buying new companies, new technology, 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:58.640 but the culture ain't going to change. That's that's what's 0:16:58.680 --> 0:16:59.720 guiding us going forward. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.080 Parents are in their early nineties and did they call 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:04.280 you and say they're proud of you? 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.919 They're very, very proud and they could not have imagined 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:13.119 anything close close to this. Uh. And so my dad's 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.159 advice always to me is keep working out, keep working out, 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.240 don't let them down, So keep moving. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.439 Yeah, and what about your children? Are they proud of 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:21.600 what your much? 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:22.439 They are? Yes? 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.960 So when you are introduced to people, you're people say 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:27.959 you're the CEO and you're the are the CEO of 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.800 Are they surprised that somebody that came from India is 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.959 running this company that is legendarily built by Fred Smith. 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:40.280 I was introduced as this minister from an African country. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:44.600 He just could not digest this fact. It was like 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.840 it was like double tack and triple tech. You are 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:54.000 the CEO, you are the global CEO. So there is 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.479 a little bit of that sometimes. But I think you know, 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.120 it's it's not it's that's meant me rare, rare at 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:02.520 this point. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.520 So what do you do when you're relaxing if you're 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.879 not you know, looking for you know, where your package 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.359 was or something like that. What are you doing from 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.040 a package you never have to look for you? No? 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.200 Yeah, I think for me, I mean at this point, 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.639 either family time or tennis. That's kind of you're a 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:24.560 tennis you're a tennis player, so that's my meditation as 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:25.520 well as a relaxation. 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:27.680 And do you ever play with like, have your employees 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.199 you beat them? I assume you can beat them pretty readily. 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.960 No, it's I do we actually have Memphis of course, 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:36.560 you know there's a lot of FedEx folks and so 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.440 we play, but nobody gives me a quarter. Listen, I 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.720 can assure you that they're not giving up. In fact 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:43.000 that I would be upset if they did. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.600 Fred Smith came up with this idea years ago, and 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.159 obviously it's built a big business and so forth. But 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.760 are you worried that some young Fred Smith somewhere else 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.840 is going to come up with something that replaces your business. 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.600 For us, part of the culture that Fred drilled into 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:00.320 a brain is that change is the only constant and 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:04.160 if you don't like change, you will absolutely hate extinction. 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:11.760 And so we are constantly with that mantra in place. Now. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:16.520 Having said that, the physical network that we have in place, 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.400 and I keep repeating to this, is you can pick 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.600 it up a package or shipment from any one part 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:23.640 of the world and get it to any other part 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.240 of the world. It's taken us fifty three years to 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:30.960 build this incredible network that is going to be very 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.480 very difficult to replicate. So unless someone is inventing it 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.840 being me up Scotty machine and you know, moving through ether, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.600 this is going to get very very difficult replicated. So 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.600 I think there are certain things that are clear modes 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.520 for us. But then the question for us is how 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.320 do we innovate and change, continue to keep that energy 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:51.560 up and move forward. 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.159 All right, So, today, if somebody wants to get a 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.680