1. Fedex Owner Blackjack

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In an act of desperation, FedEx CEO Fred Smith cashed FedEx’s remaining $5,000 and flew to Vegas to hit the blackjack tables. Next Monday morning, the FedEx checking account was $27,000 up, enough to keep the company afloat at a critical time, until more stable sources of funding could be gathered. FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith is also a part owner of the Washington Redskins. The FedEx Gamble - How Blackjack Saved a Worldwide Delivery Giant - YouTube FedEx Founder and CEO Frederick W. Smith gambled with the company's future in the early 1970's, using the game of.

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Within a few years of starting FedEx, Fred Smith made a real gamble to keep the company afloat.

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Smith founded the Federal Express in 1971 and it began operations in 1973. The company was based on an idea he wrote about in a term paper in 1965 while he was an undergraduate student at Yale.

In his paper, he explained how companies could deliver items faster if they changed their shipping strategies, according to the FedEx website. However, Smith’s professor didn’t think the idea was possible, so Smith's paper was only given a C, Entrepreneur magazine reported in 2008.

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Smith wasn't deterred. After he graduated from Yale and served in the Marine Corps for two tours of duty in Vietnam, Smith bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales in 1971, the FedEx website said.

With his new company, Smith realized how difficult it was to ship items within a few days, so he decided it was time to try to put his Yale term paper to use.

According to Entrepreneur, Smith raised $80 million in loans and equity investments by the end of 1972.

FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith is also a part owner of the Washington Redskins. (Redskins.com)

FedEx began operations in April 1973 and quickly grew. However, rising fuel costs eventually caught up with the young company, putting FedEx millions of dollars in debt, Entrepreneur reported.

Investors declined to give FedEx more money and Entrepreneur reported that 'bankruptcy was a distinct possibility.'

When the company had only $5,000 left, Smith pitched General Dynamics for more funding, but the board refused.

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On his way home, Smith took a detour to Las Vegas and won $27,000 playing blackjack, which he wired back to FedEx, Forbes reported.

'The $27,000 wasn't decisive, but it was an omen that things would get better,' Smith said about the gamble, according to Entrepreneur.

'I was very committed to the people that had signed on with me, and if we were going to go down, we were going to go down with a fight,' he said. 'It wasn't going to be because I checked out and didn't finish.'

Fedex CEO Fred Smith is pictured at a business roundtable meeting in 2012. (REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo)

After his blackjack win, Smith was able to raise another $11 million, the magazine reported. And by 1976, FedEx's revenue had reached $75 million, according to Forbes. The company went public two years later.

According to the company website, FedEx reported $1 billion in revenue in 1983. Though it was hit hard by the 2008 recession, the company has bounced back.

According to Forbes, the company made $69.7 billion in revenue last year.

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Smith, who is still the CEO and chairman of FedEx, is estimated to be worth $3.9 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time net worth calculator.

Though gambling FedEx’s last $5,000 was a risky choice, Smith doesn't appear to regret his decision, according to a quote from an essay by Smith that Forbes published in 2017.

'No business school graduate would recommend gambling as a financial strategy, but sometimes it pays to be a little crazy early in your career,” Smith wrote.

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Shortly after founding shipping group FedEx, the company was facing dire financial straights. The company was eating through cash while trying to establish their footprint, and was on the verge of bankruptcy. This week CEO Fred Smith revealed how he won big at the blackjack table and used those funds to help save the company from bankruptcy early on.

Smith recalled how he went to General Dynamics to beg for additional funding, only to be rejected. On the way home, Smith took a detour to Las Vegas and sat down at a blackjack table. He went on a run and walked away after winning $27,000. With funds in hand, Smith then wired the funds back to FedEx, which helped get the company by until they were able to raise $11 million in funding. A few years later, FedEx reached over $1 billion in revenues.

Speaking about the big win and the impact it had on his company Smith said, “The $27,000 wasn’t decisive, but it was an omen that things would get better. I was very committed to the people that had signed on with me, and if we were going to go down, we were going to go down with a fight. It wasn’t going to be because I checked out and didn’t finish.”

Since that time FedEx has become one of the largest shipping companies in the world. The group employs more than 400,000 people globally and had nearly $70 billion in revenues last year.

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