The co-winner of this year’s award recognizing early career IROs discusses mentors, the importance of listening and why he compares companies to 1800s sailing ships
It’s often said that IR is always a team sport. Even for solo IROs, who somehow manage to juggle all their responsibilities alone, the profession is always about making connections both internal and external, getting up to speed with your company, your market and your wider ecosystem.
For Matt DeBerry, staff director, investor relations at FedEx, it’s a key tenet of his career thus far. After joining the logistics company in 2018, he has taken on increasingly senior roles because he enjoys IR so much, something he puts down to being ‘at the intersection of some of the smartest minds in business’, between FedEx’s C-suite, divisional leaders and its investors. That approach ultimately led to him being named rising star at the IR Impact Awards – US 2026, alongside Etsy’s Sarah Marx.
Below, he tells us more about his IR career progression at FedEx, why he likens spending time with his CEO to watching someone playing four-dimensional chess and why he sees the IRO role as akin to scanning the horizon at the helm of an 1800s ship.
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