# Tony Hsieh

> Tony Hsieh was the visionary CEO of Zappos who turned a struggling online shoe store into a $1.2 billion acquisition by Amazon, not by selling shoes but by relentlessly selling happiness - to customers, employees, and a disbelieving corporate world. A Harvard computer science grad who sold his first company (LinkExchange) to Microsoft for $265 million at 24, Hsieh spent two decades proving that culture isn't a perk but the entire product. He wrote the bestselling 'Delivering Happiness,' bet $350 million on reviving downtown Las Vegas, and died in November 2020 at age 46, leaving behind a philosophy that still shapes how companies think about their people.

- **Role:** CEO at Zappos (retired August 2020; died November 2020)
- **Organizations:** Zappos, LinkExchange, Venture Frogs, Downtown Project, Amazon
- **From:** Urbana, Illinois, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, Harvard University, High School Diploma, Branson School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and sold LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million (1998) at age 24, Grew Zappos from $1.6M to $1B+ in gross merchandise sales as CEO, Negotiated Zappos acquisition by Amazon for ~$1.2 billion (2009)

## Career timeline

- **1973** — Born December 12 in Urbana, Illinois to immigrant parents from Taiwan
- **1991** — Enrolled at Harvard University to study computer science
- **1993** — Led Harvard ACM team to 1st place out of 31 entrants at International Collegiate Programming Contest
- **1995** — Graduated Harvard with CS degree; sold pizza from dorm grill to fund lifestyle (best customer: Alfred Lin)
- **1995** — Briefly joined Oracle Corporation as software engineer - left after 5 months
- **1996** — Co-founded LinkExchange with Sanjay Madan and Ali Partovi; grew to 10M+ banner ad impressions within 90 days
- **1998** — Sold LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million; personally earned $40 million at age 24
- **1999** — Co-founded Venture Frogs investment firm with Alfred Lin; invested in OpenTable, Ask Jeeves, and others
- **1999** — Joined Zappos as advisor after nearly deleting founder Nick Swinmurn's voicemail; became CEO and lead investor
- **2000** — Zappos generated $1.6 million in gross merchandise sales in first year
- **2004** — Moved Zappos headquarters from San Francisco to Las Vegas to better align with 24/7 customer service culture
- **2008** — Zappos hit $1 billion in gross merchandise sales for the first time
- **2009** — Amazon acquired Zappos for approximately $1.2 billion; Hsieh remained CEO and earned at least $214 million
- **2010** — Published 'Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose'; hit #1 NYT bestseller list for 27 weeks
- **2012** — Launched Downtown Project in Las Vegas with $350 million personal investment to revitalize Fremont Street area
- **2013** — Moved Zappos HQ to former Las Vegas City Hall building downtown; implemented holacracy management system
- **2014** — Downtown Project scaled back significantly after financial challenges; project generated fewer jobs than projected
- **2020** — Retired as Zappos CEO in August after 21 years, as part of Amazon restructuring
- **2020** — Died November 27 from smoke inhalation after house fire at Connecticut home; was 46 years old

## Achievements

- Co-founded and sold LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million (1998) at age 24
- Grew Zappos from $1.6M to $1B+ in gross merchandise sales as CEO
- Negotiated Zappos acquisition by Amazon for ~$1.2 billion (2009)
- Published NYT #1 bestselling business book 'Delivering Happiness' (2010)
- Led Harvard ACM programming team to 1st place nationally (1993)
- Created legendary 10 Zappos core values that became a cultural blueprint for the tech industry
- Introduced paid-to-quit 'The Offer' program that became widely copied in tech culture
- Spearheaded $350 million Downtown Project urban revitalization in Las Vegas
- Managed Zappos independence within Amazon, maintaining culture post-acquisition for over a decade
- Ranked among most influential CEOs in America multiple times by business publications
- Ranked Zappos consistently on Fortune 'Best Companies to Work For' list

## Latest updates

- **2020-08** — Retired as CEO of Zappos after 21 years as part of Amazon restructuring
- **2020-11** — Died November 27, 2020 from smoke inhalation in house fire in Bridgeport, Connecticut, age 46
- **2022-01** — Posthumous biography 'Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley' by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans published
- **2023-01** — 'Wonder Boy' named Financial Times best business book of 2023

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyhsieh
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/zappos_hsieh

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tony-hsieh
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-29