Zappos founder Tony Hsieh was considered a visionary leader and entrepreneurial genius, so how did his life end so tragically?
At one point in my life, almost all of the shoes I owned came from Zappos.com. Back in the early 2000s, Zappos changed how people bought shoes online, just like Amazon changed how people bought books. And the company’s founder, Tony Hsieh, became the face of the company. As CEO, Hsieh worked hard to ensure both customers and employees were happy. This made Zappos the company everyone wanted to work for, and customers wanted to buy from. He was a star at Zappos and stayed with the company even after Amazon bought it in 2009.
Many assume that once they attain a certain amount of success or fame, they will be happy for the rest of their lives. But that’s not how it works, and Tony Hsieh is an excellent example. In Park City, Utah, in November 2020, Hsieh suffered severe injuries in a house fire and died. But this was the final chapter in a series of unfavorable events that started with drug use and misusing his wealth. The sad story of Tony Hsieh is told in the book Wonder Boy by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans; find out more from the perspective of the authors in the video below:
