FedEx appoints insider John Smith to lead freight spin-off business
May 19 (Reuters) - Delivery giant FedEx (FDX.N), opens new tab said on Monday it has appointed insider John Smith as CEO of its freight trucking spinoff, FedEx Freight.
Smith, who is the chief operating officer of the company's U.S. and Canada business, has been with the company for more than 25 years.
The company first announced the separation of its less-than-truckload (LTL) business in December 2024 as it restructured to focus on its core business.
The move would allow for more customized operational execution in the global parcel and LTL markets, it said.
The divestiture is expected to be completed by June 2026. Until then, Smith will serve in his current role.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump reveals how Americans can score a free $1,000 'MAGA baby account'
President Donald Trump promoted a key aspect of his 'big beautiful bill' as the Senate continues to debate the legislation: $1,000 investment accounts for babies born during his tenure in office. The 'Trump accounts' will be given to every U.S. citizen born after December 31, 2024, and before January 1, 2029. The government's $1,000 contribution would be placed in an index fund tied to the overall stock market and managed by the child's legal guardians. The accounts 'will make it possible for countless American children to have a strong start in life at no cost to the American taxpayer, absolutely no cost. It's going to have a huge impact,' the president said during an event at the White House on Monday. Named after himself, Trump called the accounts a 'pro-family' initiative as he works to rally senators to support the legislation. It's not the first time that Trump has made sure it's his name that Americans see on a financial statement. He put his name on the stimulus checks the government sent to millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. House Republicans changed the name of the program from 'MAGA accounts' to 'Trump accounts' before the bill's passage last month. The Trump accounts will be funded by contributions from private businesses. The heads of Dell, Uber, Altimeter Capital, ARM Corp, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Robinhood and Goldman Sachs jointed the president for the announcement. The accounts will also be accessible for additional financial contributions throughout the child's life: from family, friends, parents, employers, or other entities. 'It is a pro family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation, and they'll really be getting a big jump on life, especially if we get a little bit lucky with some of the numbers and the economies,' Trump noted. The recipient of the account could access some of the money when they turn 18 for things like education, training or a first-time home purchase. The full balance would be available at age 30. Democrats are critical of the legislation, which they say will remove millions from Medicaid and add billions to the federal deficit. Some Republican senators, especially those who represent states with large rural areas, also have expressed concern about the cuts to Medicaid. The Senate can still amend the bill, which, if that happens, it would need to be re-approved by the House before it could go to Trump for his signature.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump is going after LGBTQ rights and big companies have responded by shunning Pride Month
Every June, like clockwork, multinational corporations — from banks to fashion houses to petrochemical giants — would suddenly don their Pride-themed logos on social media. Many LGBT+ people found it shallow, and mocked the phenomenon as a cynical exercise in "rainbow-washing". But just a few years since the wash of rainbow feeds, even this skin-deep show of support is conspicuous by its absence. Of the ten major U.S. corporations documented by journalist Hunter Schwarz to have adopted a Pride avatar or banner on Twitter in 2023 — including ExxonMobil, Bank of America, and Freddie Mac — just one, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is still flying its rainbow flag on the social network today. Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League have also abandoned it since 2023. "A lot of people have hesitations around 'rainbow capitalism', and I'm definitely one of those people," Maybe Burke, a 32-year-old gender inclusion consultant in Philadelphia, tells The Independent. "But to not see anything makes you miss when you did, you know?" Multicolor logos aren't the only things disappearing. Pride marches across the nation have lost corporate sponsorships, from big city extravaganzas to small town celebrations. New York City's Pride organizers reportedly lost roughly one quarter of their corporate donors this year; Kansas City Pride lost half its annual budget; even San Francisco Pride was down $200,000. Some ties, such as that of Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch to St Louis PrideFest, were decades old. LGBT+ non-profits have also reported severe drops in their funding. The newsletter Popular Information found 19 examples of companies that appeared to have scaled back their support for Pride, including Dyson, Nivea, UPS, Mastercard, and Citi. The hardware chain Lowe's reportedly also backed out of a regular Human Rights Campaign survey and shut down an LGBT+ employee resource group. Another report by NBC News named Nissan, Comcast, and drinks maker Diegeo. "The scale of the retreat in the U.S. is dramatic and telling," Fabrice Houdart, executive director of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, tells The Independent. "We're not witnessing a mere dialing down — we're witnessing withdrawal, with a few exceptions... the exuberant displays of support we saw five years ago have been replaced by passivity, silence, or strategic invisibility." 'We are seeing the unravelling of conditional support' Burke, who earns much of her living training organizations to be more welcoming to trans and non-binary people, noticed conditions beginning to change after the Trump administration's flurry of executive orders targeting DEI programs — one of which threatened to investigate companies, non-profits, universities, and other institutions that maintain them. "No new inquiries were coming in, and people I had been planning and talking with for months were ghosting me," Burke says. "June has always been my busiest month of the year. June has funded the rest of my summer. In recent years I've had at least two gigs a week in June with different clients; as of right now, I have two gigs for the entire month.' One client, she adds, told her straight up that the company's legal department had intervened and warned that hiring her for a gig might violate Trump's decrees. That's just one symptom of the sudden chill that has descended over corporate America about openly standing up for LGBT+ rights. Some companies pulled back earlier, as a new anti-LGBT+ hate movement gathered steam between 2021 and 2024. But the presence of an openly authoritarian president in the White House, backed by a movement seemingly hellbent on driving queer people back underground, has drastically raised the stakes. "Companies are afraid of backlash, boycotts, and being 'called out' by the administration. But the real issue is that many never developed the courage of their convictions," says Houdart from the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors. "We're seeing the unraveling of conditional support: the second Pride stopped being universally popular or profitable, many brands quietly exited." Ron deHarte, co-president of the Pride organizers' association USA Prides, says there has indeed been a "noticeable decline" in national-level brand sponsorships, especially in the biggest advertising markets (mostly large cities such as New York and Los Angeles). Yet he stresses that there are other factors at play too. "The broader economic climate", he argues, especially "uncertainty around tariffs", is making companies reticent about spending on events and marketing across the board. Whatever the cause, the lost money will have an impact. Sponsorship money, deHarte explains, is "crucial not only for the flashy decorations and entertainment but also for essential aspects like security, insurance, porta-jons, and maintaining free entry for many events." At least smaller Pride events, which is most of them, will be less impacted on average, because they "traditionally rely more on community fundraising and local business support". 'This is a wake-up call to reclaim our power' Of the nine companies that ditched their Twitter drag since 2023, ExxonMobil, McKesson, Cencora, Cardinal health, Centene, Bank of America, Freddie Mac, and UPS, all either did not respond or declined to comment to The Independent. Citi did respond, though it declined to answer our specific questions. A spokesperson said the company's LGBT+ employee group is 'excited about sponsoring a range of Pride celebrations' worldwide, and will be marching with the LGBT+ elders' charity SAGE in New York City. To be fair, few companies seem to have completely cut all support, instead either scaling down their commitments or simply undertaking them more quietly. Yet that still sends a bitter message to a community that has spent decades fighting not to have to live in hiding. There is, after all, a reason that nobody dubs it LGBT+ Sensible Modesty Month. "In the short term, it's unpleasant. It reinforces the sense that LGBTQ+ dignity is still negotiable and that we never really accumulated any political or economic power," says Houdart. There will, he argues, be lasting damage to companies' reputation: "Many queer people will not forget who stood up and who disappeared." Yet in the long term, deHarte and Houdart are both hopeful that good things will come of this. To deHarte, it's an opportunity for the movement to diversify its funding and prioritize sponsors who demonstrate a real, year-round commitment to LGBT+ equality all year round "It could be a pivotal moment — a forced reckoning,' says Houdart. 'We have been too dependent on institutional validation from parties, governments, and corporations that never honestly shared our long-term vision. "This is a wake-up call to reclaim our power and stop renting our liberation from others... it's a painful moment, but it's also clarifying. Our future depends on solidarity and organizing, not sponsorship."
Sky News
26 minutes ago
- Sky News
Elon Musk's father says his son and Donald Trump will patch things up after dramatic falling out
Elon Musk's father has said his son and Donald Trump's dramatic falling out was like "a man and a wife arguing", but they will patch things up soon. Errol Musk told Sky News' Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett: "It's like any argument. Everybody at some point says I'll never make up, but then they do later." It comes after the world's richest man said in a now-deleted tweet that the US president appears in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The social media back-and-forth began when the Tesla and SpaceX CEO called Mr Trump's tax and spending bill a "disgusting abomination" days after abruptly leaving his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying it would add to US debts and threaten economic stability. "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," he tweeted. In a follow-up post he added: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out." He gave no evidence for his claim, which the White House dismissed. The posts disappeared from his social media platform by Sunday. Asked what he thought of the public falling out, Errol Musk said: "I was very surprised, I didn't expect anything like that." He said his son is "somebody who sticks by his principles" and "doesn't like to be called out on anything". He added: "I don't think Elon would be concerned about whether he criticises Donald Trump or not." 'They'll come to an understanding' Mr Musk said his son and the president fell out over Mr Trump's bill, adding it was "not going to save the country money" and "was going to cost the country even more money". But he said: "I think they'll come to an understanding in due course. Elon is standing by his principles that we must cut costs." 4:02 Asked if they would make up, he said: "Yes absolutely. They may not go back to exactly the same arrangement but they're certainly both on the same side of things so it's simply a matter of they should take notice of what Elon is saying and he should take notice of the needs that the government has." 'We're sorting it out' He said the argument likely happened because of "emotions welling out of hand". "They've had five months of intense day and night, hardly any sleep, and anybody who went through that would know your nerves are pretty much shredded after that time. "And once they'd cleared the opposition and it was just the two of them left... they'd got to a point where it was just the two of them left so they had to start fighting with each other." He added: "I'm not sure it will be a matter of going back into the White House, because he's not an elected president. But getting back on a normal footing, I would imagine very soon. Tomorrow maybe." Mr Musk said he had received a text from his son saying: "Don't worry, we're sorting it out". Mr Musk also said his son would like to cooperate with Russia "in matters of space exploration" - after the SpaceX CEO said his company would "immediately" begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft - the only US spacecraft available to deliver crew to and from the International Space Station - after Mr Trump threatened to cancel government contracts with Musk's businesses. It comes after Mr Trump told NBC he has no plans of making up with Musk.
