Former Washington minority owner, FedEx founder, dies at 80
Smith is best known for founding Federal Express in 1971 using his $4 million inheritance. He remained with FedEx as CEO until 2022 and remained an executive chairman after stepping down.
Smith unsuccessfully tried to land an NFL expansion team in Memphis, Tenn., during the early 1990s. However, the NFL awarded the league's newest franchises to Charlotte, N.C. (Carolina Panthers) and Jacksonville, Fla. (Jaguars). Before he purchased a minority stake in the then-Redskins, Smith signed a 27-year deal with the team to rename it FedEx Field. The stadium, now known as Northwest Stadium, had operated as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium from its 1997 opening until 1999, when it became FedEx Field. FedEx exercised its option to end the agreement two years early in 2024 when Josh Harris bought the team from Snyder.
Smith's split from Washington was nasty. He, Dwight Schar, and Robert Rothman hired a firm to explore selling their 40% stake in the team. This came at the same time as Snyder was facing public pressure again to change the team's name. During this period, FedEx released a statement informing the team it wanted the name changed. Snyder finally relented to the public pressure, and in the summer of 2020, the Redskins became the Washington Football Team.
Later in 2020, Smith, Schar and Rothman sued Snyder in federal court, accusing Snyder of interfering with investors willing to pay around $900 million for their shares.
The Commanders released the following statement on Smith's passing:
Smith's son, Arthur, is the current offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Former Washington owner, FedEx founder Frederick Smith, dies at 80
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Realistic assumptions for big-ticket investors: You will be using most of your capital losses, whether short or long, to absorb long-term gains. You may find yourself using a loss long after you harvested it. The top rate on long gains is 23.8% plus whatever your state grabs. Conclusion: Losses are valuable but not as valuable as advertised. Now here are some product reviews. Wealthfront This one is my favorite. It offers a direct-indexed S&P 500 account at a bargain-basement 0.09% annual fee, with a $5,000 minimum. Frec In a price war with Wealthfront, this outfit has the same 0.09% fee for the S&P 500 direct deal, with a $20,000 minimum. It gets a runner-up status because it's newer and smaller. It oversees $350 million to Wealthfront's $80 billion. Frec has some interesting variations on the theme, including a Sharia-compliant index portfolio at 0.35%. 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