Overnight delivery company founded in 1971 by Fred Smith, famous for the "hub and spoke" logistics model and for nearly dying in its first year — a legendary story has Smith taking the company's last $5,000 to a blackjack table to cover a fuel bill. For founders, FedEx is a reference on operational innovation (the hub-and-spoke was genuinely novel), the compounding value of a brand promise ("when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"), and the thin line between conviction and recklessness in early-stage leadership.