YouSaid · the spoken record

Raj Subramaniam

lines on the record: 36
first: 2026-05-21
most recent: 2026-05-21
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Because we are in every part of the world in very, very kind, these days I got to get up in the morning and say a little prayer before I look at my phone because I don't know what's happening. And so just the unpredictability of it.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'll buy a second maybe. No, I think it's a team members. They're just really, it's an incredible set of team members. It doesn't matter where you're on the world.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I think so. I think our financial goals I told you are very exciting and also most importantly achievable. The transformation that's underway at FedEx today, whether it is our network transformation, whether it's our organizational transformation or digital transformation, those are real levers for us and we can create new businesses on which layers on top of our existing physical business in a way. And so it's very exciting. We're all excited at FedEx and we think there's a lot more to go.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it depends on what job you want. That's not open right now. But I think starting off at FedEx, if an operational side of the house, obviously we hire a lot of people every single day. Like you said, we had 25,000 in the last year. And the great thing is a lot of people who started around as frontline careers have had a fantastic career. In fact, several of them rise to executive level positions in this company and there's a long history of that. And then, of course, the staff jobs as well, because I feel we are in a very exciting time period here. And the words getting around. So the interest level is actually increasing. And whether it is different functional jobs, or especially in technology and the ability for FedEx to leverage what we have today and have a different view on how we can leverage technology to drive AI. So we are getting a lot of interest.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“For us, part of the culture that Fred drilled into our brain is that change is the only constant. And if you don't like change, you will absolutely hate extinction. And so we are constantly, with that mantra in place. Now, having said that, the physical network that we have in place, and I keep repeating this, is you can pick it up a package or a shipment from any one part of the world and get it to any other part of the world. It has taken us 53 years to build this incredible network. That is going to be very, very difficult to replicate. Unless someone is inventing a beam-me-up Scotty machine and moving through Ether, this is going to get very, very difficult replicate. So I think there are certain things that are clear modes for us, but then the question for us is how do we innovate and change. To keep that energy up and move forward.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I do. We actually have Memphis, of course, you know, there's a lot of FedEx folks, and so we play, but nobody gives me a quarter on this. I can assure you that they're not giving up. In fact, that I would be upset if they did.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You never have to look for your background. So I think for me, at this point, either family time or tennis, that's kind of a tennis. Were you a tennis player? So that's my meditation as well as relaxation.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was introduced to this minister from an African country. He just could not digest this fact. He was like double tech and triple tech. You are the CEO? You are the global CEO? So there is a little bit of that sometimes, but I think that's rare at this point.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They're very, very proud and they could not have imagined anything close to this. And so my dad's advice always to me is keep working hard, keep working hard, don't let him down. So keep moving.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“From the language of FedEx is the same. I've told, and I promised Fred this for sure, we may hire get new people, buying new companies, new technology, but the culture ain't going to change. That's what's guiding us going forward.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“High performance team. That's what he would say. And we are always a people first company, and our philosophy is crystallized in people's service profit. You take every people, they provide outstanding service for our customers, who generates profit for a company, we invest back in our people. This unending circle is what has been guiding FedEx from the very, very get-go. And it's not an ethereal theory in a service business, we have 500,000 team members around the world. The difference between those 500,000 team members doing just enough not to get fired versus doing an outstanding job for our customers and delivering what we call our purple promise, that's the difference between failure and success. And so this philosophy is embedded into all of us. And a great thing about FedEx also is that this culture prevails globally. Anywhere in the world you go. The language of the country may be”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that's not the way it worked because at the 2019 before the pandemic, we were about $69 billion in revenue. The next two years, we grew $25 billion, so we got $94 billion. Then it went down to 88, the shadow of the pandemic, and now we are back. So when you say we are back, yes, but look at the longer picture, we have grown about 5% kegger since about 2019 or 6% Kagers. For us, part of the culture that Fred drilled into our brain is that change is the only constant. And if you don't like change, you will absolutely hate extinction.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“FedExpress, FedEx ground, FedEx freight, and we had FedEx Office and things like that. But three main companies. The main thing was in the United States, there was a reason why it was set up this way. And again, we talk about, you know, we were started off in the air express business, but the ground parcel business, we were tiny at the turn of the century. We were only 10% market share. So we had to make inroads, and we need to be a differentiated play. So that's what we basically grew our market share for many, many years.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, Fred was very, very clear about this. This is the greatest thing about Fred. I mean, I'm just going to count myself one of the very, very fortunate persons on this planet that I have spent so much time with him. It was very, very clear that once the mantle shifted over, that, okay, he'll give me all the input you want, but the decision-making was mine. That meeting with him lasted about two minutes.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“One day he calls over and says, I'm going to Los Angeles tomorrow. I've looked at your calendar. You're doing nothing. I want you on the plane with me. And so it was, I think, the day before Valentine's Day, whatever it was. So I'm there. So he walks into the plane and we go, even before he sits down, he turns around and says, Would you like to be the president and CEO of FedEx? And I'm looking at him and says, I'll be honored, sir. And he sat down for the next because we can't get out anymore because now we've got a four and a half hour flight.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was the associate marketing analyst for international marketing at FedEx, so it can go lower for the staff position, no.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You just talk to my roommate, but he's not going to be there, but I'm going to be here. Can I fax you my resume? I sent him over. I said, okay, come on over for the interview. This was a time when recession was pretty deep in 91. And also, I didn't have a green card, and that's become an issue from other interviews. So when I got to the interview, my euphoria had already come back down again. So I see these two gentlemen, very nice people across the table, and I say, I didn't say good morning. I didn't say hello. I said, I don't have a green card. I said, if that's a problem, then I don't want to waste your time or mine. And they look at me like, what is a strange kid? And say, son, let's first figure out whether you have what it takes to do a job at FedEx and let's worry about the paperwork.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Again, MBA, I was on campus in Austin, Texas. It's kind of a story around it, too. So I came home one afternoon, and my apartment mate was on the phone, and he's basically on the phone and saying, no, I can't do that. He was leaving the country. So I said, who's on the phone? He said, that's FedEx. He said, coming to campus, we want to do interview him. But he's not going to be there. So I said, give me the damn phone. So I call over and I say,”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When I joined FedEx in 91 and I barely knew Memphis, I didn't know anybody in Memphis. If someone had told me that this is the job I would be doing then, I would have set out a much better chance to play for the Indian cricket team.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's got kind of crazy because by the time the next six months came around, my blood was staking. I was like in 45 degrees, I was in my t-shirt. Today, actually, I can deal with coal pretty good.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When I got this, no, no, no chance. So I got to Syracuse the first day I'm walking to school, it was 70 degrees and sunny, and everyone's telling me, nice day, and I'm freezing. So it went downhill from there.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I don't because this was two ranks above, I took Syracuse and I remember going to the consulate in Mumbai or Bombay at that time. And the lady says, you know, it's going to be cold over there. And I said, yeah, cold, whatever. And now you're Romba. I had not seen temperatures below 75 degrees in my life.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, first of all, you have to imagine a world where there was no Google or information was, let's say, much scarcer. So there was a well-worn path. You go in India, you get into the Indian Institute of Technology, very competitive school. And once you're through that, there is usually a path to get a scholarship to come to America. And all you get really information is about rankings of top 20 schools in America. And Syracuse was in the top 20 for chemical engineering at that time. I got a scholarship. Well, two ranks below, which also got a scholarship was Florida.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wouldn't know what that was. No, it was very straightforward middle class childhood focus heavily, luckily for me education plus sport. Sport's very important in my life.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Some of the investors are frustrated about lack of generation of free cash flow, for example. But you have to have investments in capital to get the network that we have built so far. So the fact that we're here and we're turning a corner and then I'm not anticipating at this point going to moon or Mars, we have this planet pretty much covered and there's investments that we need are more incremental at this point. I think that realization is starting to sink in and so maybe the frustration is starting to ebb somewhat and I think we also have the job to do then to put points on the board and demonstrate success on a consistent basis.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Or things like that? Well, you know, we used to do animal charters way before, but right now this is a more, let's call it diplomatic move.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Are the VIPs, very important pandas? So, you know, this is something that we have done for some time now because we can do it. We have done, I think, 15 or so pandas, and we are looking at another one from Atlanta as well. So that's something that we do. And we have actually the delivery of the plane. It's called the Panda Express”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We have changed our focus very clearly, and when we had Investor Day back in February, we laid out our goals of a 4% revenue growth, which is modest by historical standards, but something, again, focused on this high-value verticals, but generate 14% bottom line growth because of OKGAR because of the transformations that we're doing, and generate $6 billion of free cash flow. So that's our financial anchors that we”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Short answer is we can. We have a large hub in Dubai. Obviously, we can fly FedEx airplanes into Dubai, or we have an operation into Riyadh. So those things, no, we can't fly, but we are now using other carriers to move traffic in and out of Middle East. It's operational, but not the same way that it was before.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm more optimistic. There is stealth. Industrial Growth in this economy that's coming up, and we're seeing growth in the B2B sector. We'll see how it goes, but if you go back from September 2022 to next three and a half years, the ISM index was down pretty much 35 or 36 months. It was a very tough time. But I think we're starting, you know, there's probably some change.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To orchestrate global supply chain. So there's opportunity for us to leverage the insights that we have from our data and do different things with it.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Air is going to be great because the fact that I told you we have two petabytes of data every single day. We realized back in 2020 that the data that we generate is a valuable asset on its own. So we had gone about really engineering and creating a platform using our data and creating a digital twin of FedEx. And then comes the revolution in AI. And then suddenly that now we're able to use that AI to now supercharge our data. So of course we're going to use to improve our efficiency, our network efficiency and so on. That's great. We'll do that. That's the base layer. But we're also using it to differentiate and create new value for our customers so they ship more packages. And when they ship more packages, there are no AI delivering packages. There are more jobs. In fact, last year we've added about 29,000 jobs in America. You know, we are also looking at how do we use these insights that we have.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, it's the same speed. The important thing is the infrastructure we already have. We have 638 facilities right on the highway. So we can go facility to facility on the highway and then can be human driver. So that is an important component of this because I don't think we are yet able to see an autonomous truck driving down the street outside here.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We already have, we are working with a partner in Texas where we have autonomous driving being tested and we'll see how that goes.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the market itself is growing, and I think I feel like our industry, what we do as an industry, is pretty significant and somewhat underappreciated actually, because it's been taken for granted. Especially now in this day and age, what we do as an industry, whether it is, like I said, two or three players that we have, is I think there's a lot of value. And within that, I think the market itself is going to grow the opportunity for players who really have standout capabilities in this is now significant. And I think I'm confident in our value proposition that we can compete very effectively and win share as well.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Letters are very, very small piece of the business, and I think you send some letters, so thank you about that. But if you open up our airplanes and look at them, if you can imagine we can fill it up with letters, that's a lot of letters. So it's actually, you know, we move the high value economy of the world. In fact, the last year we moved roughly $2 trillion worth of goods across the world. And they are pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense, textiles. Think about the ones, the value per pound of something is very high. They usually go in our system.”
2026-05-21 · The David Rubenstein Show · Raj Subramaniam · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source