Blackjack Saves FedEx from Bankruptcy
March 23rd, 2014 by Site Admin
It was the popular game of blackjack that saved FedEx (FDX) from going under, according to a report published in The Street by Chris Ciaccia.
Marc Bodnick, one of the founders of Elevation Partners, posted in Quora that Fred Smith, the then chief executive officer (CEO) of FedEx actually saved the young company by playing blackjack. Bodnick urges those interested to check out a book on the history of FedEx, called Changing How the World Does Business, written by Roger Frock, who was one of the founding executives of FedEx.
According to page 101 of Frock’s book, FedEx’s funds had diminished to only $5,000 in its checking account, but the company required $24,000 to pay for jet fuel. When Frock returned from Memphis, he was surprised to see $32,000 in the account.
When he asked Smith about the money, Smith said that, as the meeting with General Dynamics came to nothing, he had flown to Las Vegas and won $27,000 playing blackjack as he knew that FedEx badly needed the money. When Frock asked him how he could gamble with the last $5,000 FedEx had, he said that it wouldn’t have made any difference as they still wouldn’t have had enough money for the jet fuel.
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