LEGEND
James E . Casey
Founder United Parcel Service
“ One measure of your success will be the degree to which you build up others who work with you . While building up others , you will build up yourself ”
James E . Casey - or Jim to those who knew him - was , like all pioneering businessmen of the 20th century , a dreamer above all else . Though he may not be a household name around the world , the company he helped found is , and the brown and gold insignia of UPS is a welcome sight for millions of people and businesses across the globe , every day .
In 1909 , at the age of 19 , Casey established the American Messenger Company in Seattle , Washington , delivering letters and messages to citizens in the city and surrounding areas . Just six years later , after a merger with a local rival and motorisation through investment in a fleet of Ford Model T motorcars , United Parcel Service was born .
Casey ’ s ambition led to tremendous growth for the company in the first half of the century . UPS offered air service as early as 1929 - though it was grounded due to lack of demand throughout the Great Depression , returning in the mid 1950s - and by 1975 the company had expanded to offering its services throughout all 48 contiguous states of the USA .
Casey served as the chief executive until 1962 , and remained an active board member for almost his entire life , until he passed at the age of 95 in 1983 . In the decades following his death , UPS continued to grow and , at the turn of the century in November 1999 , went public with a valuation six times that of its main rival FedEx , at the time making it the biggest IPO in US history .
As legacies go , UPS is an impressive business to leave behind - and one that continues to thrive today . But Casey ’ s impact goes beyond supply chain and logistics , bottom lines and parcels . His belief in supporting the professional growth of the people he worked with is common management practice today , but was a radical approach in the dogeat-dog world of mid-century America , flying at the height of capitalist growth .
This was a philosophy he deeply cared about , and his commitment to those family values lives on long after his death through the Annie E . Casey Foundation - named in honour of Casey ’ s mother - and other charitable initiatives such as the Casey Family Programs , which aims to improve , and ultimately remove the need for , foster care .
$ 100
The amount
Casey borrowed from a friend to establish American Messenger
Company . He died worth roughly $ 100m
16 April 2021