FedEx names R. Brad Martin as new board chairman

FedEx Corporation announced the appointment of R. Brad Martin as the new Board Chairman after Frederick Wallace Smith, the founder, executive chairman, and long-time chairman and CEO of FedEx, passed away on June 21, 2025, in Memphis, Tennessee.

“In light of Smith’s passing, on June 23, 2025, the Board reduced the size of the Board to twelve members and elected R. Brad Martin, who previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board, as Chairman of the Board effective June 23, 2025,” reads the FedEx regulatory filing.

Martin will continue to serve as Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee of the Board.

Martin was first elected to the FedEx Board of Directors on September 26, 2011, marking the start of his nearly 14-year tenure in oversight roles, including Vice Chairman and Audit & Finance Committee Chair. 

Martin is Chairman of RBM Venture Company, a private investment company, a position he has held since 2007. "He previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Riverview Acquisition Corp., an investment company, from April 2021 until its merger with Westrock Coffee Company in August 2022," reads the August 2024 Proxy Statement (definitive) released by FedEx. 

Martin is the retired Chairman and CEO of the U.S.-based luxury retail and real estate holding company Saks Incorporated, having retired from Saks in 2007 after serving nearly 20 years as Chairman and CEO of that firm and its predecessor company.

He also previously served as the lead Director of the Board of Managers of Pilot/Flying J, a network of truck stops and travel centres—operating across the U.S. and Canada.

Martin was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, a producer of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, a position he held from October 2015 to February 2021.

He is also the former Interim President of the University of Memphis, a position he held from July 2013 until May 2014.