Who Owns UPS?

United Parcel Service (UPS) is a global shipping and supply chain management company located in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1907 James Casey and Claude Ryan founded the company as the American Messenger Company.

The company was rebranded to Merchants Parcel Delivery in 1913 and United Parcel Service six years later. As of Jan 2024, UPS had around 500,000 employees. [1]

UPS offers integrated logistics solutions in over 200 countries and territories. In May 2023, UPS announced plans to open seven dedicated healthcare logistics facilities. This strategy can bolster the company’s capabilities in the high-value customer segment. [2]

UPS is the global leader in package transportation. The firm offers domestic and international package delivery services for up to 150 pounds and palletized freight services for heavier items.

As of Sep 2023, UPS operated over 500 airplanes and over 125,000 vehicles.

The company leverages its extensive ground and air fleet and global logistics network to deliver packages between points within the same country or across international borders. [3]

UPS uses land and air freight to fulfill deliveries. The venture is labor-intensive and costly. In Jan 2024, UPS announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs and sell its Coyote truck brokerage business.

This strategy will help the company offset soft demand and higher labor costs and save $1 billion in 2024. The move comes after UPS registered a 9.3% drop in annual sales and a 7.5% decline in Q4 delivery volumes. But who owns UPS? [4]

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Who is UPS’s parent Company?

UPS is a standalone, public company owned by its shareholders. The delivery giant doesn’t have a parent company. UPS owns several subsidiaries, including UPS Airlines, Nightline Group, Marken, UPS Mail Innovations, UPS Logistics, UPS Professional Solutions, and UPS i-parcel.

In Nov 2022, UPS acquired healthcare logistics provider Bomi Group. The deal will boost UPS’s cold chain capabilities in Europe and Latin America by adding temperature-controlled facilities in 14 countries and 3,000 employees. [5]

UPS is a Fortune 500 company known for its ground shipping services. The company also offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis from the UPS Worldport international hub in Louisville, Kentucky.

Then, UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost deliver to post office boxes through the US Postal Service for last-mile delivery. In 2022, UPS Worldport was the world’s largest entirely automated facility for package handling. It is the world’s fifth busiest airport by cargo traffic and handles over 3 million metric tons yearly. [6]

UPS is the world’s largest parcel courier by revenue, with 37% of the parcel delivery market. FedEx is second with 33%, followed by the US Postal Service at 17% and Amazon Logistics at 12%.

In 2022, UPS delivered about 24.3 million packages daily. However, a strike can undercut UPS’ delivery capabilities. In Jul 2023, UPS negotiated with the Teamsters union to prevent a nationwide walkout of 340,000 employees. The company lost $850 million in 1997 after its workers went on strike for 15 days. [7]

UPS is building its logistics-as-a-service offering to create a robust reverse logistics business. In Oct 2023, UPS announced plans to acquire Happy Returns from PayPal to bolster its label-free returns.

The logistics giant seeks to leverage Happy Returns’ software to deliver a frictionless reverse logistics experience. UPS will launch the service at over 12,000 US locations before rolling it out globally. [8]

Image Credit Gavin — Image Credit: Gavin

UPS’ Ownership History

James Casey and Claude Ryan are UPS founders and the company’s original owners. In 1913, Casey and Ryan acquired a converted Model T Ford to deliver parcels. The company merged with Evert McCabe to form Merchants Parcel Delivery.

In 1916, Casey and Ryan hired Charlie Soderstrom to help them grow the business. UPS’ iconic dark brown brand color was Soderstrom’s idea.

Ryan left the company in 1917, making James Casey the sole owner. Casey expanded the business outside Seattle after opening offices in Oakland and Los Angeles in California.

In 1925, the company rebranded to United Parcel Service (UPS). UPS expanded across the West Coast. The company extended its common-carrier service beyond California in the 1950s and entered Canada in 1975. [9]

UPS reintroduced air freight services in 1953 for overnight deliveries. The company launched UPS Airlines 35 years later and expanded its fleet to over 200 aircraft by the 21^st century. Cofounder James Casey owned and managed UPS until he died in 1983.

The Casey family was the principal stockholder, with UPS execs and their families as minority shareholders. This ownership structure continued for 16 years after Casey’s death. In 1999, UPS offered its shares to the public for the first time.

The IPO extended UPS’s ownership to investors outside the company. In 2001, UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. to offer mailbox, shipping, and clerical services through the UPS Store. The company unveiled UPS Premier in 2020 to increase visibility across its healthcare supply chain using sensor technology.

In Oct 2023, UPS launched UPS Pickup Point locations across the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain to streamline logistics for health laboratory customers. The company plans to acquire MNX Global Logistics to provide same-day ground delivery services for radiopharmaceuticals. [10]

UPS’ Shareholder Structure

UPS’ shareholder structure includes institutions, insiders, and public investors. As of 2023, UPS offered 125,836,384 Stock A shares and 729,499,444 Stock B shares, with one vote awarded to the majority shareholder.

The company’s Stock B includes 729,289,346 free-float shares. As of Jul 2023, The Vanguard Group was UPS’ largest shareholder, with a 9.24% stake. The group owns 67,218,714 Class B shares. [11]

Institutional investors own around 72% of UPS. BlackRock Inc. is UPS’ second-largest shareholder. As of Feb 2023, BlackRock owned 57.9 million shares or 5.3% of UPS stock. The investment company increased its UPS ownership by 0.80% in 2023 from 52.09 million shares reported to the US SEC in 2022. State Street Corporation is UPS’ third-largest shareholder, with 3.9%, followed by JPMorgan at 3.49%.

Other top UPS institutional investors include Wellington Management, Charles Schwab, Geode Capital, Merrill Lynch, and Fidelity. [12]

Insiders directly hold less than 0.1% of UPS shares. Carol Tomé has been UPS CEO since Jun 2020 and a board member since 2003. As of Jul 2023, Tomé was UPS’ largest individual shareholder with 324,023 shares.

Kate Gutmann is UPS Executive Vice President (EVP) and holds the second-largest insider stake in the company with 108,085 UPS shares, followed by UPS EVP and Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman, who owns 83,994 shares. [13]

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