Originally Posted by CargoDriver

Not quite.

When David Abney got a part-time job for United Parcel Service (UPS) so he could afford to take his childhood sweetheart out on dates, little did he know that he would go on to become the giant company's boss.
It was in 1974 when a then 19-year-old Mr Abney first started working for the world's largest parcel delivery firm.
A business student at Delta State University in Mississippi, at night he would work at the local UPS depot, loading packages onto vans. By day he would sleep between lectures on a sofa in the student lounge.
He was tired, but he had money to take his girlfriend out for a meal.
After graduating in 1976, while many of his friends applied for more typical graduate jobs, Mr Abney decided to go full-time with his low level UPS job.
He says he had become fascinated with how the US business worked, how through teamwork it could deliver parcels on time across the States and around the world.
Soon promoted to a UPS driver, and then a supervisor, over the next 40 years he continued to move up through the business, until, in 2014, he was appointed chief executive.


Mr Abney, a born and bred Mississippian, puts his success down to his deep Southern roots, willingness to work hard, and pride in the company. Others also cite his desire to learn about every single part of the business.