Memphis (Tenn. US) March 30, 2022:   Indian-American, Raj Subramaniam is to be the new  President and CEO of the global logistics leader FedEx Corp, succeeding   founder Fred Smith.  He was earlier President and Chief Operating Officer.
Subramaniam was elected to the FedEx Board of Directors in 2020 and will maintain his seat on the Board. Prior to his role as President and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Corp., Subramaniam was President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of FedEx Corp., where he was responsible for developing the corporate strategy. In addition, he served as the President of FedEx Express in Canada and in several other management and marketing roles throughout Asia and the U.S. since he joined FedEx in 1991.
“Fred is a visionary leader and a legend of the business world,” Subramaniam said. “He founded one of the world’s greatest and most admired companies, and it is my honour and privilege to step into this role and build upon what he has created. As we continue to transform as a company and reimagine what’s next, we will keep our people-service-profit philosophy at our core. I am immensely proud of our 600,000 team members around the world. Together we’ve set into motion ideas that have changed the world for the better, and together we will unlock new value for our people, customers, and shareholders.”
“FedEx has changed the world by connecting people and possibilities for the last 50 years,” Smith said. “As we look toward what’s next, I have a great sense of satisfaction that a leader of the calibre of Raj Subramaniam will take FedEx into a very successful future. In my role as Executive Chairman, I look forward to focusing on Board governance as well as issues of global importance, including sustainability, innovation, and public policy.”
IndiaWest adds background from Kerala, India
It was a proud moment for the 87-year-old former director general of police V. Subramaniam when his elder son Raj took over as head of FedEx.
Advising his son to be totally devoted and committed, the former top police officer said: “I specifically told him that he should be loyal to the company with impeccable integrity.” He called his family an out-and-out FedEx family as Raj’s wife Uma quit a top post in FedEx following conflict of interest.
“Their 25-year-old son, who has been working with FedEx for the past four years, will quit in May to pursue his management programme. My second son Rajiv Subramaniam has also been working with FedEx in the IT division for more than two decades,” he said.
Raj studied at the Loyola School here till Class 10. “After his Class 10, I wanted him to explore India and sent him to Mumbai and after two years he joined IIT Mumbai where he did his chemical engineering. Then he got full scholarship to do his MS in the US. Soon after, he joined a management program and won a gold medal,” said Subramaniam. Raj Subramaniam has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Syracuse University, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
He returned to India and got married after completing his management studies. Later, when he went back to the US, he learnt that FedEx had come to their campus for campus selection.
A person from Chennai was selected. That person was from the biggest industrial group in Chennai and he did not join. “Soon my son called up FedEx and expressed his keenness in working with them. He was called for an interview and he joined the company in September 1991,” he said.