弗雷德里克•W•史密斯

    公司：联邦快递公司

    《财富》500强排名：63

    在《财富》500强公司奋斗终生的人群里，只有为数不多的人同时担任公司CEO兼创始人，史密斯便是其中之一。他在耶鲁大学（Yale）学期论文里勾画出了联邦快递的雏形（他周末的工作是一名持照飞行员），让史密斯名声在外。在越南服役两期后，他从姐姐那里借钱成立了公司。虽然这家快递公司并没能迅速出现起色——他曾一度不得不紧急前往拉斯维加斯，靠在赌桌上赢来的钱去拯救公司——至上世纪70年代末，史密斯的公司开始走上正轨，最终成长为这家价值480亿美元的公司。目前这家公司仍由他运营。对于他的继任者以及他会在什么时候停止工作，他一直三缄其口。

Frederick W. Smith

    Company: FedEx

    Fortune 500 rank: 63

    One in a handful of CEO founders on the Fortune 500 lifer list, Smith famously conceptualized FedEx in a college term paper at Yale (he worked as a charter pilot on the weekends). He founded the company in 1971 after two tours of duty in Vietnam, with money borrowed from his sisters. While the express delivery company didn't take off immediately—at one point, he resorted to saving the company with an emergency trip to Vegas and wiring money he made at Black Jack—by the late 1970s, Smith was on his way to building the $48 billion company he still runs today. Mum's the word on Smith's successor and when this lifer will call it quits.