FedEx Corporation’s founder and former chief executive Frederick Smith, who launched the international courier giant with over a dozen aircraft in the 1970s, has passed away, as announced by the company’s CEO Raj Subramaniam in a memo to employees posted on their website on Saturday.

He was 80 years old.

Born in 1944, Smith recently held the role of executive chairman at the company, where he concentrated on board governance and global matters such as sustainability, technological advances, and public policy, according to his profile on FedEx’s website.

Smith stepped aside as FedEx’s CEO in 2022 and was succeeded by Subramaniam, who was then the company’s operations chief.

“Fred was not only the trailblazer of an industry and the creator of our remarkable company. He was a guide to many and an inspiration to everyone,” Subramaniam mentioned in the staff memo.

Smith, who served as an officer in the US Marine Corps in Vietnam, officially launched Federal Express in 1973 with 389 team members and 14 small planes that flew 186 packages from Memphis to 25 U.S. cities.

FedEx operations now include 705 aircraft, more than 200,000 vehicles and about 5,000 operating facilities, according to its website. 

More than 500,000 employees worldwide handle approximately 17 million shipments each day at FedEx.