FedEx × Annie Leibovitz

Driving Passions: FedEx at 50

Fifty years of innovation. One founder’s legacy. A new generation moving the world forward. For its 50th birthday, FedEx partnered with Annie Leibovitz and YW3 to celebrate the people behind the company, and those carrying its entrepreneurial spirit into the next 50 years.

Annie Leibovitz portrait of FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith on the airstairs of a FedEx aircraft in Memphis, 2023 — Frederick W. Smith, photographed by Annie Leibovitz in Memphis, 2023.Photo

Where: Memphis International Airport, and FedEx’s global channels
When: April 2023, FedEx’s 50th birthday
Practice: B2C Brand Experience
Programs: Cultural Partnerships · Premium Storytelling

The brief

The next 50 years began with the first. FedEx’s 50th birthday was an opportunity to celebrate more than operational achievement: to recognize the entrepreneurial vision that created a new industry, while looking ahead to the people and businesses transforming the world today.

The challenge was to connect heritage with progress, corporate scale with humanity, and one founder’s ambition with the next generation of innovators. YW3 and the Annie Leibovitz Brand Studio developed a portraiture-led platform that put authentic human stories, not packages or logistics, at the center of the anniversary.

YW3 delivered

Talent PartnershipCreative DevelopmentPortrait Production CoordinationCultural PartnershipsExperience IntegrationContent AmplificationPR SupportArtist SocialCuratorial Support

The results

Results Annie Leibovitz’s social campaign, May 2023 recap. Organic; impressions duplicated across Facebook, Instagram and X.

5original portraits, including founder Frederick W. Smith
529,661organic impressions across Annie’s channels
89K+engagements, with a 30% Facebook engagement rate on unique reach

The founder

Fifty years. One full-circle moment.

Frederick W. Smith turned a vision for overnight delivery into an enterprise that reshaped global commerce. For the anniversary, Annie Leibovitz photographed him at FedEx’s Memphis hub, in a portrait deliberately informed by the company’s photographic past. Smith had handed the CEO role to Raj Subramaniam in June 2022, becoming executive chairman. He died on June 21, 2025, and FedEx used Annie’s 2023 portrait in its public tribute to its founder.

Founder legacyAnniversary × portraitureNext generation

Then and now

A photograph, revisited half a century later.

The production set out to recreate an archival image of Smith beside a Federal Express jet. Annie’s 2023 portrait answers it beside a modern FedEx aircraft.

Archival photograph of Frederick W. Smith beside a Federal Express jet — Then: archival photograph, Federal Express

Annie Leibovitz’s 2023 portrait of Frederick W. Smith beside a FedEx aircraft — Now: Annie Leibovitz, 2023

The portraits

The entrepreneurial spirit, through Annie’s lens.

Five portraits connected FedEx’s history with the people carrying its spirit forward.

Frederick W. Smith on the airstairs of a FedEx aircraft — Frederick W. Smith, founder and executive chairman

Easton LaChappelle of Unlimited Tomorrow with his client Sasha in the workshop — Unlimited Tomorrow: Easton LaChappelle and Sasha, Rhinebeck, New York. Accessible, 3D-printed prosthetics

Three generations of the Terra Beauty Bars family in a meadow — Terra Beauty Bars: a multigenerational family business, Boca Raton, Florida

The Diallo brothers of Ginjan Bros. in their kitchen — Ginjan Bros.: the Diallo brothers, Harlem, New York

FedEx team member Marianne Senkowski at her home office with her sons — Marianne Senkowski: FedEx team member, Small and Medium Business Advocate of the Year

The experience

Unveiled in the city where FedEx began.

A preview reception on April 13, 2023, ahead of FedEx’s official birthday on April 17, opened a Driving Passions exhibition at Memphis International Airport: the five portrait stories on large-format screens with rotating video, QR codes to the full stories, a branded photo moment and FedEx’s 50-year narrative. It stayed on view through the summer, while the portraits carried on across FedEx’s channels, Annie’s own platforms and the press.

The Driving Passions exhibition wall in the Memphis International Airport terminal — Memphis International Airport

**Behind the scenes** · FedEx’s own channelsFilm

Annie Leibovitz’s Instagram post for FedEx Driving Passions: Easton LaChappelle of Unlimited Tomorrow with his client, Sasha — **The artist’s own channel**

Editorial coverage and FedEx’s own announcement and tribute.

The relationship continued: FDX at NRF 2024 →

The takeaway

A company’s past. The people building its future.

Driving Passions turned FedEx’s 50th birthday into a human story about the vision, ambition and ingenuity that connect generations. Through Annie Leibovitz’s portraiture, YW3 helped unite founder heritage, customer storytelling, cultural credibility and a physical brand experience. The campaign celebrated fifty years. The photographs captured something that would last beyond them.

YW3 delivered

Talent Partnership
Creative Development
Portrait Production Coordination
Cultural Partnerships
Experience Integration
Content Amplification
PR Support
Artist Social
Curatorial Support

Client: FedEx
Artist: Annie Leibovitz
Talent partnership & program: YW3 / Annie Leibovitz Brand Studio
Experience: Memphis International Airport
Year: 2023

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