A lucky weekend in Vegas saved FedEx

What do you do when your company is down to its last five thousand dollars, and a fuel bill is due on the other side of the weekend? Most of us would go to a bank or a relative, or break out the credit card. But that's why most of us don't own global companies.

FedEx CEO and founder Fred Smith ran into difficulty early on, approaching an important point in the company's development where they were short on cash, but close to success. Emptying the bank accounts of the company, Smith flew to Las Vegas with one game in mind. After a weekend at the blackjack table, Smith returned with over thirty thousand dollars in the bank, more than enough to keep the company afloat for the week. Decades later, Smith is worth over $2 billion, but if not for a wild gamble, he and his company would have faded away.