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Journalism of Courage
During his recent visit to the United States, China’s President Xi Jinping dined with America’s top business executives at a gala reception in San Francisco on November 15. Hosted by the US-China Business Council and the National Committee on US-China Relations, the event allowed CEOs of prominent companies to rub elbows with high-ranking government ministers of the Asian country.
One such executive at the dinner was Raj Subramaniam, CEO and president of FedEx. Subramaniam took over the position last year after the company’s founder, W Smith, decided to step down.
Subramaniam, 56, joined FedEx in 1991 and was elected to the FedEx Board of Directors in 2020.
He served FedEx Corp as its president and Chief Operating Officer before being named as the CEO-elect last year. He has held various other leadership roles in the company such as the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.
Apart from this, he has also served as the president and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Express, which is the world’s largest express transportation company.
Since he joined FedEx, Subramaniam has been in several management and marketing roles throughout Asia and the US, in addition to serving as the president of FedEx Express in Canada.
Subramaniam is the son of former Kerala DGP C Subramaniam, who headed the state police from 1991 to 1993. His mother Dr B Kamalammal was with the state health service and retired as its additional director. A native of Palakkad, Subramaniam had moved to Thiruvananthapuram in early 1960.
After his schooling at Loyola School in Thiruvananthapuram, he pursued chemical engineering at IIT-Mumbai, and later earned a master’s degree in the same field from Syracuse University.
He also holds an MBA degree in Marketing and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
His son Arjun Rajesh and brother Rajeev are also with FedEx.
As President and CEO of FedEx Corporation, Subramaniam is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx operating companies, including FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services, FedEx Office, FedEx Logistics, and FedEx Dataworks, according to the company website.
The website mentions that Subramaniam has more than 30 years of industry experience at FedEx. “His international leadership experience, keen business insights, and focus on globalization have contributed to the success of FedEx and provide a blueprint as the company revolutionizes the transportation and logistics industry,” it says.
Subramaniam serves on the board of directors of FedEx Corporation, First Horizon Corporation, the US Chamber of Commerce’s China Center Advisory Board, FIRST, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, and the US-China Business Council. He is also a member of the International Trade Administration’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness (ACSCC).
