Tony Hsieh, former CEO of Zappos that sold online shoe retailer to Amazon for $ 1.2 billion, dies at 46



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(Zappos.com home page)

Tony Hsieh, a revered internet entrepreneur who co-founded Zappos and sold the online retailer to Amazon for $ 1.2 billion, has died aged 46.

The Zappos.com homepage featured an image of Hsieh on Friday night and a letter posted by Zappos CEO Kedar Deshpande.

“It is with a very heavy heart that we share very sad news with all of you as we learned that Tony passed away earlier today (11/27/20),” Deshpande wrote. “Although Tony retired last summer, we know how huge an impact he has had on Zappos and the Zapponians as he has spent the last 20 years focusing on the success of the business and of our employees. ”

The cause of Hsieh’s death is unknown. Update: The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Hsieh died of injuries sustained in a house fire.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Tony Hsieh, and our hearts go out to his family and friends,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire. “Tony was a visionary leader and innovator who will be sorely missed.”

Here is a statement from Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke:

Hsieh has led Zappos since its launch in 1999. The company struggled in its early days, but Hsieh helped grow the company into an online footwear and apparel giant that sold to Amazon in 2009. Zappos is become known for his unique culture, focusing on the “science of happiness,” experimenting with corporate structure and customer obsession – something Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos admired.

“The world has lost a great visionary and an incredible human being,” wrote Deshpande, a longtime Zappos employee who took over from Hsieh as CEO. “We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and friend. Tony played such an important role in building the successful Zappos business we have today, as well as his passion for helping to support and animate our corporate culture.

Hsieh resigned as CEO last August.

Amazon first tried to buy Zappos in 2005, as Hsieh detailed in a 2010 article. Bezos and Hsieh began trading again in 2009 and agreed to an acquisition that would allow Zappos to continue to operate independently. . The acquisition remains one of Amazon’s largest to date, eclipsed only by the tech giant’s purchase of Whole Foods and Ring.

“From our perspective, it’s basically like we’ve replaced our old board with a new one,” Hsieh said in an interview in 2014. “On top of that, we have access to all of this free technology from Amazon. ”

Prior to launching Zappos, Hsieh co-founded and sold an advertising startup called LinkExchange to Microsoft for $ 265 million.

Hsieh published a book in 2013 titled Offer happiness: a path to profits, passion and purpose, a New York Times bestseller that details lessons learned in life and business during his entrepreneurial journey. Hsieh believed that corporate culture can help promote employee happiness.

“What’s interesting is that research has shown that if employees are happier and customers are happier and there is a strong company culture, it drives business results and these companies tend to outperform. long-term peers, ”Hsieh said in an interview with The Colbert Report in 2011.

Hsieh also created a $ 350 million initiative in 2009 called the Las Vegas Downtown Project to help transform downtown Las Vegas into a hub for entrepreneurs and innovators.

Here is Deshpande’s full letter and other tributes shared online Friday:

It is with a very heavy heart that we share a very sad news with all of you as we learned that Tony passed away earlier today (11/27/20). Although Tony retired last summer, we know how huge an impact he has had on Zappos and the Zapponians, as he has devoted the past 20 years to focusing on the success of the business and our employees.

The world has lost a great visionary and an amazing human being. We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and friend. Tony was instrumental in building the thriving Zappos business we have today, as well as his passion for helping to support and fuel our corporate culture.

Tony’s kindness and generosity touched the lives of everyone around him, as his mantra was to “Deliver Happiness” to others. His spirit will forever be a part of Zappos, and we will continue to honor his memory as we dedicate ourselves to carrying on the work he was so passionate about.

We’ll be working on ways to celebrate Tony’s extraordinary life in the coming days. In the meantime, we invite you to share your memories of how he brightened your life – you can send them to [email protected] and we’ll share them with his family.

Our thoughts remain with him and his loved ones. Zappos is family and we will continue to keep Tony in our hearts.

Regards,
Kedar Deshpande
CEO of Zappos



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