FedEx Names New Express CEO in Latest Management Change

FedEx Corp. named company veteran Don Colleran president and chief executive officer of FedEx Express, the latest change linked to a shakeup of the shipping company’s top executives last month.

Colleran will take over FedEx’s largest unit on March 16, the Memphis, Tennessee-based company said Monday. He will replace Raj Subramaniam, who became president and chief operating officer of the parent company on March 1, after then-President David Bronczek retired.

The sudden departure of Bronczek, 64, stunned Wall Street because he was widely viewed as Smith’s eventual successor and had just been named to the board on Jan. 28. The shift vaulted Subramaniam to the front of the line as heir apparent to Smith, 74, as FedEx contends with a slowdown in international markets and a lagging stock price.

Colleran has been with FedEx for almost 30 years, joining as an international sales manager and moving through executive positions in several operating companies before being named executive vice president and chief sales officer of FedEx in 2017.

Another FedEx veteran, David Cunningham, exited in December. Shortly after he resigned, the company startled analysts by cutting its outlook and announcing an employee buyout program. FedEx also said it would lower spending plans as it scaled back overseas to match softening demand.