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FedEx names ex-Atlas CEO as new CFO

Dietrich will succeed Lenz on Aug. 1

John Dietrich named FedEx CFO (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) on Monday named John W. Dietrich, who recently retired as CEO at air cargo carrier Atlas Air Worldwide, as its executive vice president and CFO, effective Aug. 1.

Dietrich will succeed Michael F. Lenz, who will leave his role July 31 but remain with the company until the end of the year as a senior advisor.

John Dietrich

Dietrich spent more than 24 years at Atlas, including the last three-plus years as its CEO. He officially retired about a month ago.

In a statement, Raj Subramaniam, FedEx’s president and CEO, called Dietrich an “accomplished and seasoned leader in the transportation industry whose unique combination of financial and operational expertise is a strong complement to the existing executive leadership at this important time for the company.”


Dietrich joins FedEx as the company is in the process of overhauling its enterprise. Its ambitious program called Drive is expected to generate $4 billion in total savings by the end of its 2025 fiscal year. Fiscal 2025 begins June 1, 2024. It is also unifying its FedEx Express air and international unit with its FedEx U.S. ground delivery unit to achieve massive operational synergies from the combination.

Dietrich’s appointment was part of a transformation of the company’s finance organization. Jennifer L. Johnson, corporate vice president and principal accounting officer, is assuming an expanded role with the consolidation of all international accounting teams under one global organization.

Leslie M. Benners, senior vice president of finance, is now leading the company’s sourcing and procurement efforts. Claude F. Russ, currently COO of FedEx Dataworks, has been named corporate vice president of finance transformation to provide oversight and accountability for the execution and measurement of enterprise financial objectives.


Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.