With latest $50M gift, Smith family goes big
By Samual Hardiman – Daily Memphian
July 28, 2026
The Memphis Zoo’s elephants will soon join the Memphis Grizzlies and the University of Memphis Tigers as the latest beneficiaries of the Smith family’s generosity. Nearly three years ago, a $50 million gift from the family helped break the stalemate over stadium funding between the NBA franchise and the U of M. The pledge helped the City of Memphis stretch $350 million in state funds between ongoing renovations to FedExForum and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Now, the Smith family, led by Diane Smith, the wife of late FedEx founder Fred Smith, is making a similar pledge and challenge to the Memphis Zoo: Raise $50 million, and we’ll match it. It’s the latest example of the family’s long-term backing of sports and civic assets in Memphis.
“I got involved (with the Memphis Zoo) over three decades ago when, project by project, we began building it into the world-class attraction that it is today,” Diane Smith said in a statement. “My family and I are just honored to have played a role in that so that other families can enjoy this incredible Memphis gem for generations to come.”
Richard Smith, a FedEx executive and board member, said in an interview that Diane Smith’s long involvement with the zoo began after he, as a small child, became upset with the big cats’ living conditions, which he said “looked like prison cells.”
“Her passion for the zoo goes back 30 years, and it really has to do with being a mother and now a grandmother, and just knowing what a great amenity that is for families to take their children and wanting to support it,” he said.
Largest gift in zoo’s history
Matt Thompson, right, is president and CEO of the Memphis Zoo. (Courtesy Memphis Zoo)
Matt Thompson, president and CEO of the Memphis Zoo, said the gift from the Smiths would be the largest in the zoo’s history and that it will help raise the rest of the nearly $100 million to finish the first phase of a $250 million master plan.
The challenge gift from the Smith family will reshape the zoo’s African Veldt exhibit, which, beyond African elephants, includes zebras, rhinos, giraffes and bongos, among others.
“That suddenly seems within reach, and so we believe strongly that announcing this as a match will hopefully get everyone’s attention, and we can close this out hopefully by the end of the year,” Thompson said. “... To receive a single $50-million-dollar commitment from a single family is just unheard of. Not just in Memphis, but anywhere.”
Thompson said the zoo hopes to begin construction of the first phase, which would include a new habitat for the zoo’s African elephants, in calendar year 2027.
Gift part of Smiths’ long-term vision for Memphis
An upgraded African Veldt area is part of the Memphis Zoo’s $250 million master plan. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Richard Smith said that the public does not know about most of his family’s giving and that they disclosed the gifts to the U of M and the zoo at those organizations’ requests.
“It’s the largest gift in the University of Memphis’ history, and this is now the largest gift in the zoo’s history. And both of those institutions specifically asked us if they could make it public, because when it’s known that the Smith family is involved at that level, it shows the community and other potential donors that it’s an investable project,” he said.
In his office Monday afternoon, Thompson said that the conversations with Fred and Diane Smith started two years ago when the zoo finished designing its $250 million master plan.
He said that shortly thereafter he got a “pretty amazing call” about the $50 million commitment.
“The family consistently invests in our community and in things that they believe strongly will support our community for the long run,” Thompson said. “Working closely with Fred, Diane and this family, if they believe in anything, it is strengthening our city and making it great.”
On Monday, Richard Smith said the $50 million pledge to the U of M was as much about the Tigers as it was about the Grizzlies, a team his family inquired about acquiring earlier this year.
“Those three amenities — the zoo, the Liberty Bowl, FedExForum — when you kind of look strategically ... those are probably three of the biggest civic amenities from an economic impact and footprint perspective,” Richard Smith said.
The Memphis Zoo’s African Veldt exhibit includes zebras, rhinos, giraffes and bongos, among others. (Courtesy Memphis Zoo)
He said that for a community looking to attract new talent and retain skilled workers who already live in and around Memphis, amenities are crucial.
“The talent that we attract usually have families, and those families want things to do. They want to go see a football game or a basketball game or a concert,” he said. “They have small children, and they want to take the children to go do things on the weekends.
“They’re great for helping us attract and retain talent to our community and keep people from moving out, in addition to the direct economic impact they drive.”
Richard Smith said the community should expect his family to continue investing in and supporting Memphis.
“Fred Smith was a powerhouse. He was a titan. We miss him dearly, but there was one person he never won an argument with, and she’s the matriarch of the family, and she loves Memphis. She’s very passionate about ... this zoo, and that is Diane Smith. And so we’re not going anywhere.”
