Kenneth A. May is the former CEO of

FedEx Office FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. ( doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shipp ...

, and chairman of the March of Dimes' board of trustees. In November 2011, he was appointed president of

Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans c ...

, and later in July 2014, May became president and CEO of Topgolf International, Inc. In November 2018, May joined golf entertainment company, Drive Shack Inc., where he is currently CEO.

Early life and education

Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, May attended Harding Academy there. A graduate of the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, May holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in business administration from the latter.

Philanthropy

May has a daughter Alexa, who was born 12 weeks prematurely. The baby was kept in a neonatal intensive care unit for three months. May credits March of Dimes research with his daughter's survival. He became a volunteer, and was elected to their national board in 2004. He chaired their annual WalkAmerica fundraiser in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in 2006, and was elected chairman of the board of

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s on , where he served for four years.

Career

UPS

May began his career as a part-time supervisor at the

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

(UPS) and worked there for three years but had no intention of becoming a UPS truck driver — a prerequisite for full-time work with the company — given his college degree.

FedEx

In 1982 he interviewed with FedEx's Memphis hub and became a night-shift supervisor. He shipped 162,000 packages his first day. He never intended to stay with the company, expecting to only be there six months. He received a total of 13 promotions, becoming senior vice president of the domestic ground operations division of

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the na ...

(where he managed 60,000 employees and oversaw all US operations), as well as senior vice president of their air-ground and freight services division.

Kinko's

In 2002, Kinko's CEO Gary Kusin tried to hire May to become his

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

, an offer the latter declined. May would become the CEO of the faltering company in January 2006, after FedEx bought the chain of stores in 2004. During his two-year tenure, May experimented with the chain's formula: changing stores' sizes, formats, and merchandise, as well as implementing "a kind of hub-and-spoke system

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

one large store would handle big print jobs for surrounding small ones." When May took the reins of FedEx Kinko's, the 22,000-employee company had a turnover rate of 80 percent; two years later, in January 2008, turnover was down to 18 percent, and complaints had fallen by 65 percent. May described his style as "based on being courageous enough to be bold", which included admitting mistakes and caring about people. Priding himself on his personable relationships with the chain's employees, May wrote upwards of 25–50 notes a week congratulating employees on birthdays, promotions, new babies, and achievements. In early 2006, May was the subject of a ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' article titled "People to Watch In International Business" in which author Jeremy Caplan opined that the 45-year-old May "won't reprint his résumé anytime soon." Kenneth May resigned as CEO of FedEx Office effective after a falling out with the corporation over future strategy of the copy chain; replacing May was his COO, Brian Philips. After the announcement, FedEx shares fell $1.77, or about 2 percent.

Krispy Kreme

On 28 November 2011, May became president of

Topgolf

In July 2013, May joined Topgolf as its chief operating officer. In July 2014, he was promoted to president and chief executive officer.

Drive Shack

In November 2018, May was named CEO and president of Drive Shack Inc. which owns and operates golf-related leisure and entertainment businesses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Kenneth A. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Memphis alumni University of Tennessee alumni American chief executives People from Memphis, Tennessee FedEx people American chief operating officers