Former CEO Tony Hsieh of US Online Shoe Store Passes Away in Fire Accident

Achieved Remarkable Business Success with Jaeposeu.com
Passed Away in Fire Accident, but Detailed Circumstances Remain Unclear

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Tony Hsieh, the venture entrepreneur who founded the famous online shoe shopping mall 'Zappos,' has passed away at the age of 46.

On the 28th (local time), U.S. media reported Hsieh's death. The cause was injuries sustained during a house fire on the 18th in New London, Connecticut. It was reported that Hsieh was with his family at the time, but details about the fire's circumstances were not disclosed.

Venture entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, who built 'Zappos' [Photo by AP]

Born in 1973, Hsieh was the eldest of three siblings to Taiwanese parents in Illinois, USA. He grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Harvard University with a degree in computer science.

After working at Oracle and other companies, he co-founded the online advertising network 'LinkExchange.' In 1998, he sold LinkExchange to Microsoft (MS) for $265 million and then invested as a venture capitalist in a company called 'Shoesite.com.' He later became the CEO of this company.

The company name was changed to 'Zappos.com,' derived from the Spanish word for shoes, 'zapatos.'

Zappos attracted attention with services such as free shipping and free returns on shoes, and allowing customers to try on multiple pairs by sending several shoes at once. In 2000, Zappos had sales of only $1.6 million (17.7 billion KRW), but within nine years, sales exceeded $1 billion. Later, at the request of the board and others, the company was sold to Amazon.

Hsieh remained CEO of Zappos even after selling the company to Amazon but stepped down from the company in August this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.