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FedEx founder Fred Smith, one of the most influential figures in the development of modern logistics, died on Saturday, the company has announced.
联邦快递(FedEx)公司宣布，其创始人、现代物流业发展中最具影响力的人物之一弗雷德•史密斯(Fred Smith)于周六去世。
Smith, who was 80, stepped down as chief executive of the company only in 2022 and was still executive chair of the company he founded in 1973 with a fleet of 14 Dassault Falcon 20 jets.
现年80岁的史密斯直到2022年才卸任公司首席执行官，仍然担任他于1973年创立的公司的执行董事长。当年公司成立时，拥有14架达索猎鹰(Dassault Falcon)20型喷气式飞机。
The idea for the service — widely replicated by other operators worldwide since — had started as a paper in Smith’s economics degree at Yale, where it was graded poorly by an academic who regarded it as unfeasible.
这项服务的创意——后来被全球许多运营商广泛效仿——最初源自史密斯在耶鲁(Yale)攻读经济学学位时写的一篇论文。当时，一位学者认为这个想法不可行，给了这篇论文很低的分数。
By the time of Smith’s death, the company was operating 698 aircraft and shipping an average of more than 16mn packages daily.
到史密斯去世时，公司已运营698架飞机，平均每天运送超过1600万个包裹。
In a letter posted on the company’s website late on Saturday, Smith’s successor as chief executive, Raj Subramaniam, wrote that he was announcing the death with “profound sadness and a heavy heart”.
在公司网站周六晚间发布的一封信中，史密斯的继任首席执行官芮思博(Raj Subramaniam)写道，他怀着“深切的悲痛和沉重的心情”宣布了这一死讯。
Smith’s key insight was to understand that there was a market for a premium delivery service for express packages that customers wanted to be sure would arrive at their destination next morning. He put at the heart of the service a national hub for the United States in Memphis, Tennessee, which remains the busiest hub in the company’s now international operations.
史密斯的关键见解在于，他意识到市场上存在着一种高端快递服务的需求，客户希望能够确保快件在次日早晨准时送达目的地。他将服务的核心设在美国田纳西州孟菲斯(Memphis, Tennessee)的全国枢纽，这一枢纽至今仍是公司现已拓展为国际业务中最繁忙的运营中心。
The system has been widely imitated by other delivery services, including UPS, which set up a similar hub at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1980.
这一系统被其他快递服务广泛效仿，包括联合包裹服务公司(United Parcel Service Inc)，该公司于1980年在肯塔基州路易斯维尔建立了一个类似的枢纽。
Comprehensive, express delivery services such as FedEx’s have become a critical part of the global economy in the last 25 years as ecommerce has driven huge rises in volumes and demand.
在过去的25年里，随着电子商务带动了货运量和需求的激增，联邦快递等综合性快递服务已成为全球经济中不可或缺的一部分。
The company has grown to encompass not only the flagship express parcels business but also a range of freight forwarding and logistics services, worldwide.
该公司现已发展壮大，不仅拥有旗舰快递包裹业务，还在全球范围内提供多种货运代理和物流服务。
The company, however, came close to running out of cash in 1975, shortly after its founding. Smith is said to have taken some of the company’s last few thousand dollars to Las Vegas and rescued it by winning $27,000 at blackjack — enough to pay a looming fuel bill.
然而，这家公司在1975年成立后不久就几乎耗尽了现金。据说史密斯带着公司仅剩的几千美元前往拉斯维加斯(Las Vegas)，在玩二十一点时赢得了2.7万美元，从而挽救了公司——这笔钱足以支付一笔即将到期的燃料账单。
Subramaniam wrote in his letter that Smith was “more than just the pioneer of an industry” and the founder of the company.
芮思博在信中写道，史密斯“不仅仅是一位行业的开创者”，还是这家公司的创始人。
“He was the heart and soul of FedEx,” Subramanian wrote.
苏布拉马尼安写道：“他是联邦快递的核心与灵魂。”
FedEx last month announced it had signed a deal to deliver select large packages for Amazon, the ecommerce giant, six years after Smith severed ties in protest at Amazon’s decision to build its own logistics network.
上个月，联邦快递宣布已与电商巨头亚马逊(Amazon)签署协议，将为其配送部分大件包裹。六年前，史密斯因抗议亚马逊决定自建物流网络而中断了双方的合作。
Smith regarded as one of the key experiences of his life the three years he served in the US Marine Corps after Yale, including two tours of duty in the Vietnam war, where he won two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his bravery.
史密斯认为，耶鲁毕业后在美国海军陆战队(US Marine Corps)服役的三年，是他人生中最重要的经历之一。这三年中，他曾两次赴越南参战，并因英勇表现获得了两枚紫心勋章、一枚铜星勋章和一枚银星勋章。
In an address at Yale in 2006, Smith said the leadership taught by the military was “the best”.
史密斯在2006年于耶鲁的演讲中表示，军队所教授的领导力是“最好的”。
Subramaniam’s letter said Smith was “a mentor to many and a source of inspiration to all”.
芮思博在信中表示，史密斯“是许多人的导师，也是所有人的灵感来源”。
“He was also a proud father, grandfather, husband, Marine, and friend,” he wrote.
他写道：“他也是一位自豪的父亲、祖父、丈夫、美国海军陆战队队员和朋友。”
Smith was a noted enthusiast for free markets and globalisation and attributed the company’s success in recent decades partly to its decision to enter Asian markets such as China earlier than other large US corporations.
史密斯是自由市场和全球化的著名支持者，他认为公司近几十年来的成功，部分得益于公司比其他大型美国企业更早进入中国等亚洲市场的决策。
Paul Young, mayor of Memphis, said that Smith was “a visionary whose ideas reshaped . . . the global economy”.
孟菲斯市长保罗•杨(Paul Young)表示，史密斯是一位“具有远见卓识的人，他的理念重塑了……全球经济”。
“When he founded FedEx, he didn’t just launch a company; he changed the way the world moves,” Young said.
保罗•杨说：“当他创办联邦快递时，他不仅仅是创立了一家公司，而是改变了全球的运转方式。”
Additional reporting by Kana Inagaki
稻垣加奈(Kana Inagaki)补充报道