Tony Hsieh RIP

[Looking Glass]

The owner and founder of ZAPPOS online Shoe Company was recently retired at 46 Years Old. He transformed downtown Las Vegas and with the City's help cleaned up and reinvented a long neglected part of Vegas. Many of his employeed lived in "Town Houses" created from old abandoned down town buildings New Cafe's Shops etc. soon followed and continue today. His passion other than His Company was Airstream R-V's and formed a High End Airstream R-V Park in Vegas and even though he had a Beautiful Down Town Condo he spent much of his spare time at the Park and in His Airstream. He is one of the people who once found a Vision he acted on it with all he had. There was no cause of deadth given.
I happened to notice an article in The Vegas newspaper on him some years ago and was interested in following his incredible ability to "See" things many have been oblivous to for years and do something positive for everyone around him. RIP!!

 

[caribbean20]

Never before heard of the guy, Harvard grad. Impressive. Good article in today’s WSJ. Cited previous injuries sustained in a house fire as likely cause.

 

[HBCraig]

How the hell do i not know about this guy? I had a house in Vegas for years.

Dude had some serious mental horsepower

 

[Looking Glass]

How the hell do i not know about this guy? I had a house in Vegas for years.

Dude had some serious mental horsepower

He was Ultrs Generous with his Time, Money and Knowledge.Once again, another one of the "Good Guys"

 

[RodnJen]

True vision, super sad story. RIP

 

[Racey]

They guy was definitely brilliant, and incredible at reshaping online business especially during the early formation and boom of Zappos. They basically pioneered the notion of "Free Overnight Shipping", way before amazon and Prime came onto the scene. But going back probably 5 or so years ago shit started going wacky at the company when Hsieh introduced 'holocracy' where they basically removed all management from every layer of the company, and basically let the employees decide what they wanted to work on day to day. This went hand in hand with some policies that made it basically impossible to fire dead weight. When the policy was implemented a large chunk of level headed management and employees quit, the company somewhat devolved into confused chaos from people i know that worked inside and as contractors for Zappos, as there kind of became no clear line of decision making going on.

All of this coincided with not so quiet rumors that Hsieh had begun partaking in heavy psychedelic drug use.

Very sad indeed, the guy definitely did a huge amount for Downtown Vegas, and was not afraid to put his own money on the line for things he believed in. He invested in a lot of business down there that wouldn't have been able to start otherwise, restaurants and bars that have become iconic staples of the area.

RIP

 

[Ace in the Hole]

"injuries sustained in a house fire"

 

[WhatExit?]

I read about him and his passing in this article in Inc.:

Tony Hsieh Had a 2-Word Employment Policy at Zappos, and It Was Absolute Genius
It's even more poignant now. May he rest in peace.

"...But, I'd like to remember him for something else.

Not just the quirkiness for which he was known -- a near-billionaire who lived in an Airstream trailer because, as he once explained, he valued experiences over things -- but instead, for the 2-word policy Zappos had for new employees.

I'm talking about "The Offer," a policy that now is an even bigger reminder that life is short, and we only get so many chances to find our true callings.
The program worked like this: After a week or so the job, some new Zappos employees would be told they had a choice.

They could continue on the journey they'd begun -- or else, they could quit. If they chose "quit," the company would pay them to go.

"Why?" asked Bill Taylor in Harvard Business Review in 2008, when the maximum "offer" was $1,000. "Because if you're willing to take the company up on The Offer, you obviously don't have the sense of commitment they are looking for."

It wasn't altruism; Zappos was better off without employees who didn't want to be there. But, I can't help but think that it was a real favor for people who took jobs at Zappos only to realize it wasn't the right fit.

After Amazon acquired Zappos -- and allowed it to remain a freestanding division, under Hsieh's leadership -- "big Amazon" adopted a version of the idea as well.

The Amazon iteration involves offering Amazon fulfillment center employees $1,000 per year that they've worked at Amazon to quit, up to $5,000."

Tony Hsieh Had a 2 Word Employment Policy at Zappos. It Was Absolute Genius, and It's Even More Poignant Now

It's even more poignant now. May he rest in peace.

www.inc.com

 

[Gramps]

I think he is the guy that just bought a ranch here in southern Utah..........right in front of my place

 

[Racey]

I think he is the guy that just bought a ranch here in southern Utah..........right in front of my place

Yeah he had bought a bunch of land up near Park City I heard?

 

[Danger Dave]

I think he is the guy that just bought a ranch here in southern Utah..........right in front of my place

It's going to be a halfway house for reformed Islamic Jihadists.

 

[boatpi]

Truly sad, he was a rising star in Las Vegas, some amazing ideas and loved by all.

 

[Looking Glass]

The crazy details have come out on this tragedy. There are several accounts from people close to Mr. Hsieh that he loved Grey Goose and would often take shots, just because. The past months he had become increasing the use of Nitrous Oxide and enjoyed mixing two along with lighting numerous candles. The fact he had purchased this 3 story Million dollar plus Home for his Soul Mate and former Zappos employee, he was out back in a "Shed" with the door blocked. His friends are convinced he had blacked out with lit candles and the extremely flammable Nitrous was the cause of the fire and the blocked door resulted in his death. Sad, another one who "Had It All"

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

The crazy details have come out on this tragedy. There are several accounts from people close to Mr. Hsieh that he loved Grey Goose and would often take shots, just because. The past months he had become increasing the use of Nitrous Oxide and enjoyed mixing two along with lighting numerous candles. The fact he had purchased this 3 story Million dollar plus Home for his Soul Mate and former Zappos employee, he was out back in a "Shed" with the door blocked. His friends are convinced he had blacked out with lit candles and the extremely flammable Nitrous was the cause of the fire and the blocked door resulted in his death. Sad, another one who "Had It All"

I guess money really doesn't buy happiness...I'd be willing to give it a shot though.

Apparently, he went on a Park City buying spree and bought 15 homes for over $56MM.

 

[LuauLounge]

Further issue is that he did not leave a will.

 

[sirbob]

The crazy details have come out on this tragedy. There are several accounts from people close to Mr. Hsieh that he loved Grey Goose and would often take shots, just because. The past months he had become increasing the use of Nitrous Oxide and enjoyed mixing two along with lighting numerous candles. The fact he had purchased this 3 story Million dollar plus Home for his Soul Mate and former Zappos employee, he was out back in a "Shed" with the door blocked. His friends are convinced he had blacked out with lit candles and the extremely flammable Nitrous was the cause of the fire and the blocked door resulted in his death. Sad, another one who "Had It All"

All that being said - I always heard nitrous wasn’t really flammable?

This guy sounds like he was a bit of a nut. It’s pretty easy to put a shit ton of money into a project and a city you like when it’s Monopoly money - I’ll take it and I’m sure he did some good with some of the money spent but...

I have no idea what Zappos is or does and I never heard of this guy until his death - but from what I’ve read in the last week or two about him, there is more BS and party and less genius in him than people are giving him credit for.

Killing yourself on a shed at 3 in the morning ain’t the way smart people live their lives - I’m sure when the toxicology reports come out his death will sound a lot more like a tragic story of too much money and drugs and not enough self control to fully realize all the “good” he was doing for the world.

And WTF was Zappos again?

 

[stephenkatsea]

This Tony Hsieh is not the same Anthony Hsieh of Newport CA, who grew up in So CA, worked on the sportfishing boats of So CA, then went to Harvard after HS, founded and owns Loan Depot, owns and fishes his Bad Company sportfishing yachts and is the founder of Vets group War Heroes on the Water.

 

[sirbob]

Another example of what I have been reading about this guy...

Since his shock death, those close to Hsieh have painted a dark picture of his heavy drug use, which they say escalated after he quit as CEO of the online shoe giant Zappos in August.
They say he lost contact with some who were close to him, he'd embarked on a digital detox and had considerably increased his use of the laughing gas nitrous oxide.

Jewel, a singer and longtime friend of Hsieh, wrote him a letter raising her concerns after visiting him at one of his homes in Park City, Utah, back in August.

The letter, which was obtained by Forbes, warned that Hsieh was at risk of being remembered as drug addict and not the tech visionary he was.

She wrote that his current lifestyle choices were putting him in danger of crossing from 'eccentric to madness'.

Jewel had gone to visit Hsieh, who she initially met on Richard Branson's Necker Island, in Park City where he was trying to build a community of entrepreneurs and artists.

The singer, who posted a song tribute to Hsieh online this week, was meant to spend the week but left abruptly after just one day. She wrote the letter to him soon after.

'I am going to be blunt,' she wrote. 'I need to tell you that I don't think you are well and in your right mind. I think you are taking too many drugs that cause you to disassociate.

'The people you are surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself.

'When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble. You are in trouble, Tony.
'If the world could see how you are living, they would not see you as a tech visionary, they would see you as a drug addicted man who is a cliche. And that's not how you should go down or be known.
'Your body cannot take not sleeping. And the amount of N2O you are doing is not natural. You will not hack sleep and you will not outsmart nature.'


...'There was always people around, people living in his homes. He lived to bring people together and even wrote a book about bringing happiness. So it's sad that he was all alone in a storage area when he was injured,' the colleague said.

'His heavy alcohol and drug use was known by everyone around him,' a colleague said. 'Anyone that challenged him about it was cast aside.

'The talk among his former colleagues at Zappos is that Tony was likely in the shed blacked out drunk and on drugs. He was a major alcoholic and a drug addict. He was hardcore.'

Some friends said they feared that his use of the laughing gas nitrous oxide and his love of candles could have caused the fire that killed him.
'In recent months the nitrous oxide had become as important to Tony as his alcohol,' one close colleague said. 'And Grey Goose vodka was his best friend.'

 

[Looking Glass]

All that being said - I always heard nitrous wasn’t really flammable?

This guy sounds like he was a bit of a nut. It’s pretty easy to put a shit ton of money into a project and a city you like when it’s Monopoly money - I’ll take it and I’m sure he did some good with some of the money spent but...

I have no idea what Zappos is or does and I never heard of this guy until his death - but from what I’ve read in the last week or two about him, there is more BS and party and less genius in him than people are giving him credit for.

Killing yourself on a shed at 3 in the morning ain’t the way smart people live their lives - I’m sure when the toxicology reports come out his death will sound a lot more like a tragic story of too much money and drugs and not enough self control to fully realize all the “good” he was doing for the world.

And WTF was Zappos again?

I was never "Following" him,but did become interested as the Vegas paper always had articles on him and his "Next" project which were many. He was Not a talker as he put Millions of his own money on the line and into the Vegas Vision. The Mayor then Oscar Goodman believed in his Dream and went all in on helping him turn a rundown crime ridden area near the Fremont Experience. The entire Concept to Reality is such a hit that Cities from around the Worls to learn from it to convert their areas that stood empty and ready for demolition to productive attractive part of the Community. IMO he was far from BS and Party at least n the beginning and being an important piece in the development and designing the incredible Community that it is. What happened in the Latter years I do not know as he was notin or stayed out of the Spot light. He did have and have and kept upgrading his Airstream High End R-V Park and lived there the majority of the time. I can not understand how it all went off track, but MANY of these genius types are Off The Wall and do as say border on Crazy. I will always remember the Life story of Steve Jobs, DAMN while in College he would go Weeks into Months without Bathing and like Howard Hughes would Never cut his finger or toenails for the same long period. Then when he would give his in person new product presentations it was obvious he was losing weight and then revealed as he had Cancer. He refused any conventional Cancer treatment and when it became apparent to him that was in a very serious troublle the Doctor's told him, that he waited too long and nothing can be done. He was relying on New Wave radical Home Treatment. When looking at Apple today, he had it all in some ways.
But just a final thought Down town Vegas has forever been transformed into a Model that has been used all over the World to save and renovate forgotten and disgarded areas from years ago of a totally different Business Model. I am confident he although the Sad end will still be remembered as the Man who saved Old down town Vegas and into a Go-To part of the City. RIP

 

[sirbob]

I was never "Following" him,but did become interested as the Vegas paper always had articles on him and his "Next" project which were many. He was Not a talker as he put Millions of his own money on the line and into the Vegas Vision. The Mayor then Oscar Goodman believed in his Dream and went all in on helping him turn a rundown crime ridden area near the Fremont Experience. The entire Concept to Reality is such a hit that Cities from around the Worls to learn from it to convert their areas that stood empty and ready for demolition to productive attractive part of the Community. IMO he was far from BS and Party at least n the beginning and being an important piece in the development and designing the incredible Community that it is. What happened in the Latter years I do not know as he was notin or stayed out of the Spot light. He did have and have and kept upgrading his Airstream High End R-V Park and lived there the majority of the time. I can not understand how it all went off track, but MANY of these genius types are Off The Wall and do as say border on Crazy. I will always remember the Life story of Steve Jobs, DAMN while in College he would go Weeks into Months without Bathing and like Howard Hughes would Never cut his finger or toenails for the same long period. Then when he would give his in person new product presentations it was obvious he was losing weight and then revealed as he had Cancer. He refused any conventional Cancer treatment and when it became apparent to him that was in a very serious troublle the Doctor's told him, that he waited too long and nothing can be done. He was relying on New Wave radical Home Treatment. When looking at Apple today, he had it all in some ways.
But just a final thought Down town Vegas has forever been transformed into a Model that has been used all over the World to save and renovate forgotten and disgarded areas from years ago of a totally different Business Model. I am confident he although the Sad end will still be remembered as the Man who saved Old down town Vegas and into a Go-To part of the City. RIP

It sounds like he did a lot of great things for Vegas - Maybe the bigger story is that if your the type to become a self made billionaire your probably a bit different form everybody else!

 

[rrrr]

His friends are convinced he had blacked out with lit candles and the extremely flammable Nitrous was the cause of the fire and the blocked door resulted in his death. Sad, another one who "Had It All"

Nitrous oxide isn't flammable, but at elevated temperatures it decomposes into nitrogen and oxygen. This chemical reaction releases more oxygen by volume than pure oxygen by itself.

The NO2 may not have started the fire, but it definitely could have made it worse.

 

[RDPSHIPPING]

The owner and founder of ZAPPOS online Shoe Company was recently retired at 46 Years Old. He transformed downtown Las Vegas and with the City's help cleaned up and reinvented a long neglected part of Vegas. Many of his employeed lived in "Town Houses" created from old abandoned down town buildings New Cafe's Shops etc. soon followed and continue today. His passion other than His Company was Airstream R-V's and formed a High End Airstream R-V Park in Vegas and even though he had a Beautiful Down Town Condo he spent much of his spare time at the Park and in His Airstream. He is one of the people who once found a Vision he acted on it with all he had. There was no cause of deadth given.
I happened to notice an article in The Vegas newspaper on him some years ago and was interested in following his incredible ability to "See" things many have been oblivous to for years and do something positive for everyone around him. RIP!!

I was just reading about his passing. Singer 'Jewel' had written a letter to him following a private performance.
She apparently was very concerned about his health and wellness after witnessing the choices he was making, she stated in the letter that he was 'killing himself'. The article stated that he passed from complications of smoke inhalation, from a fire at his home.

 

[Looking Glass]

I was just reading about his passing. Singer 'Jewel' had written a letter to him following a private performance.
She apparently was very concerned about his health and wellness after witnessing the choices he was making, she stated in the letter that he was 'killing himself'. The article stated that he passed from complications of smoke inhalation, from a fire at his home.

Yes!!, when I read that portion of the article, sure did not make that conection. Those two seem to have nothing in common except $'s.

 

[Looking Glass]

Just announced since there was No Will his family has been granted Control of his Estate reported at 840 Million Dollars