{"id":3640,"date":"2026-07-17T22:12:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3640"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:12:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:12:23","slug":"fedexs-ceo-landed-his-first-job-by-taking-a-roommates-abandoned-interview-now-hes-running-a-75-billion-shipping-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3640","title":{"rendered":"FedEx\u2019s CEO landed his first job by taking a roommate\u2019s abandoned interview. Now he\u2019s running a $75 billion shipping giant"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>It was 1991, right as Subramaniam was completing his MBA in marketing and finance at the University of Texas at Austin. The Indian-born executive already had a deluge of expertise under his belt, with scientific degrees from both the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Syracuse University. But no one could escape the crushing job market; during America\u2019s recession around the early 1990s, unemployment climbed above 7%, and hiring dropped as employers pulled back. Subramaniam needed an opportunity\u2014and one serendipitously fell into his lap.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3638\">Broadcast networks wrestle with whether to air Trump\u2019s conspiracy theories or get sanctioned for dropping him<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJobs were hard to come by, and my roommate at that time had decided to go back to India,\u201d the FedEx CEO said during Fortune\u2019s <em>Titans and Disruptors of Industry<\/em> podcast with Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. \u201cWhen I was walking to the apartment, I heard him on the phone; he\u2019s like, \u2018No, I can\u2019t do that,\u2019 and he hung up the phone. I said, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 He said, \u2018That\u2019s FedEx calling,\u2019 and that it was for an interview. But he has obviously decided to leave the country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The roommate told FedEx he couldn\u2019t take the interview, and hung up. But Subramaniam couldn\u2019t bear to let the opportunity slip away. He called back the recruiter himself, and asked if he could put his hat in the ring instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI immediately picked up the phone and said, \u2018Give me the number,\u2019 and I called over and said, \u2018You just talked to my roommate, but he doesn\u2019t want to do the interview, but I am still here. Can I send you my resume?\u2019 And they said, \u2018Okay.\u201d And the rest is history.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That phone call kicked off a three-decade climb from \u201cthe lowest level\u201d of the organization to the corner office.<\/p>\n<h2>Subramaniam\u2019s three-decade rise to become FedEx CEO<\/h2>\n<p>Subramaniam first moved to FedEx\u2019s global headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, to begin his journey. He got his start as an entry-level associate, and it wouldn\u2019t take long before others took note of his talent. Soon, he earned a reputation for taking on increasingly larger international assignments, eventually relocating to Hong Kong to oversee marketing across the Asia-Pacific region from 1996 to 2003. And he said that his three-decade rise to the top was the result of repeatedly saying yes whenever new opportunities were thrown his way.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPretty much every job that I\u2019ve gotten\u2014maybe with the exception of one or so\u2014was somebody [who] said, \u2018Yep, I want you to do this\u2019\u2026[I] was given multiple opportunities, and I just took it,\u201d the FedEx CEO said. \u201cIt was a great learning experience, whether it\u2019s living in different geographies or doing different jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3636\">Xi offers AI olive branch to the world, calling for \u2018symphony of global cooperation\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He hadn\u2019t even thought about the potential of one day becoming CEO until around the time he assumed the role as regional president of FedEx Canada in 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cContinuous learning is my thing, and so it was always exciting to take on something new,\u201d the 58-year-old continued. \u201cWhen I was in a senior role, I realized, \u2018Oh, this is starting to look pretty interesting now\u2019\u2026That\u2019s probably when I first thought, \u2018Okay, this could lead to something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>His career continued to accelerate from there. After nearly three years as the head of FedEx Canada, Subramaniam went from regional boss to taking on global top roles, such as executive VP of marketing and communications of FedEx Corp. In 2019, Subramaniam was promoted to president and chief operating officer, a role in which he steered the company through the pandemic-era e-commerce boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Three years later, in 2022, FedEx founder and former chief executive Frederick W. Smith handed him the reins. The historic succession made Subramaniam the second CEO in the company\u2019s over 50-year history.<\/p>\n<p>Since he was appointed, FedEx\u2019s shares have shot up 102%, outperforming the S&amp;P 500 by 28 points, according to a recent <em>Barron\u2019s <\/em>analysis. It\u2019s on track to save $2 billion this year alone\u2014double its target\u2014thanks to his cost-cutting strategies. And the company has credited him with helping revolutionize FedEx; revamping its operating strategy, growing its e-commerce business, and putting global supply chain data at the center of its next chapter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone has aspirations to be a CEO of any company, I think it\u2019s important first of all to truly understand what it is going to take,\u201d Subramaniam advised. \u201cDo they really want it? I mean, that\u2019s a big question. Only individuals have to answer for themselves because there\u2019s a lot of stress and sacrifice that goes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3634\">Commercial auto insurance explained for business owners<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raj Subramaniam became the second-ever CEO of FedEx by taking every opportunity thrown his way\u2014including his roommate\u2019s job interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fortune-500-titans-and-disruptors-of-industry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FedEx\u2019s CEO landed his first job by taking a roommate\u2019s abandoned interview. 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