# Did Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, gamble on blackjack to keep the company afloat? Tags: history, corporate-finance - Score: 14 - Views: 2570 - Answers: 1 - Answered: yes - Asked by: dwjohnston (3043 rep) - Asked: 2014-05-29 - Edited: 2014-07-12 - Site: skeptics ## Question There is a commonly cited claim that in the early 70s, Fred Smith - the founder of Fedex, risked the company's last $5,000 in a casino gamble: Desperate to pay bills, he flies to Las Vegas, wins $27,000 at blackjack and wires it back to FedEx. Source: Forbes However, it seems... odd. The guy inherited $4m, and raised $91m initially; surely a $5k gamble wasn't necessary. ## Answers ### Answer by Flimzy (score: 12) The story is well-cited by Wikipedia, and it appears to be true. Wikipedia cites The Huffington Post, which in turn cites Robert Frock's book: “I asked Fred [Smith] where the funds had come from, and he responded, ‘The meeting with the General Dynamics board was a bust and I knew we needed money for Monday, so I took a plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.’ I said, ‘You mean you took our last $5,000-- how could you do that?’ He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘What difference does it make