Tony Hsieh, who became a frequently quoted and studied management guru by persuading millions of people to buy shoes online through Zappos, died Friday at the age of 46, one of his companies, DTP Cos., said.
Mr. Hsieh died from injuries he sustained in a house fire on Nov. 18 in New London, Conn., said his attorney Puoy Premsrirut.
In response to questions about Mr. Hsieh’s death, Thomas Curcio, chief of the New London Fire Department, said firefighters were called to a burning waterfront home at 3:34 a.m. Nov. 18 for a report of someone trapped. Firefighters forced entry, removed the victim and started CPR, Chief Curcio said.
The victim, suffering from apparent burns and smoke inhalation, was taken by ambulance first to a local hospital before being flown to the Connecticut Burn Center in Bridgeport, Conn., officials said. The New London fire marshal’s office is investigating.
The Harvard-educated son of immigrants from Taiwan was in his early 20s a co-founder of an online ad company, Link Exchange. He reaped about $40 million when that company was sold to Microsoft in 1998.
