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Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) has died at the age of 46. His death was due to injuries he sustained from a house fire while he was with his brother in Connecticut over Thanksgiving, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
"The world has lost a tremendous visionary and an incredible human being," Zappos CEO Kedar Deshpande said in a statement. "We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and a friend."
Hsieh in August announced his retirement from the company after 20 years, marking the end of a chapter for the eccentric but widely admired entrepreneur.
During his tenure leading the company, Hsieh moved the company's headquarters from San Francisco to Las Vegas as part of a larger effort to make Vegas the new Silicon Valley. While the full scope of his vision hasn't panned out, he made a name for himself in the business community and brought noteworthy attractions to the city, including Container Park and the "Life is Beautiful" music festival.
The former CEO also made headlines when he created "Llamapolis," a mini community where Hsieh lived with his two alpacas.
From selling pizza in his dorm room to seeing Zappos acquired by Amazon, here's what you need to know about Hsieh's career rise.
While little is known about Hsieh's early life, he was born in 1973 and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times/Getty ImagesSource: CNBC
Hsieh attended Harvard, where he sold pizza out of his dorm room with some friends.Brooks Kraft/Corbis via Getty Images
Source: CNBC
His first business venture after graduating was LinkExchange, which he sold to Microsoft in 1998 for $265 million.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Source: Inc.com
After the sale, Hsieh and his friend Alfred Lin were investing money into "20 or so" companies, including one company that would eventually become Zappos.Andy Cross / The Denver Post via Getty Images
A year later, another entrepreneur by the name of Nick Swinmurn left Hsieh a voicemail telling him about ShoeSite.com (which would later be renamed Zappos.) Hsieh, still uncertain about the venture, joined the company and invested $500,000.Charley Gallay/Getty Images for CinemaCon
Source: Inc.com
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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