Tony Hsieh was known for having the courage to put his money where his mouth was. Those who knew Hsieh will remember him for changing the face of Las Vegas with his own investment money, revitalizing the image of Downtown Las Vegas into a vibrant nightlife, art and restaurant scene.
It was, after all, Hsieh (pronounced “Shay”) who said in a 2013 speech he wanted to turn Downtown into “the most community-focused large city in the world.” This was a tall order given Las Vegas’ reputation as one of the most transient cities in the world. But that didn’t faze Hsieh.
“Before Tony moved his Zappos headquarters to the former Las Vegas City Hall in Downtown Las Vegas the national image of Downtown was loose slots and cheap shrimp cocktail,” says Seth Schorr, CEO, Fifth Street Gaming and chairman of Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino.
“And while there is definitely nothing wrong with a good value; Tony Hsieh brought a cache and energy to Downtown Las Vegas that had been lacking for decades. His vision, fully realized or not, helped shift the outdated stigma of our beloved Downtown to a tech-centric, hip and progressive city filled with innovative thinkers and visionaries focused on building a new community.”
As has been well-reported, Hsieh, former CEO of Zappo’s and eccentric Downtown Las Vegas visionary died November 27 of injuries from a housefire in Connecticut.
“When Tony Hsieh got involved in Downtown Las Vegas, few people shared his optimism for its future or his faith in its potential,” says Dr. David Schwarz, professor and gaming historian, University Libraries, and Associate Vice Provost, Office of Faculty Affairs.
Hsieh, who once lived in a 240-square-foot Airstream trailer Downtown with a pet alpaca named Marley, invested about $350 million in Downtown redevelopment. By 2017, Hsieh owned a reported 90 properties in the area. In addition to the sheer number of properties, it’s important to realize just how daring was his move to purchase those properties.
“Thanks to his vision and drive, Downtown Las Vegas is fundamentally different,” Schwartz says. “Thanks to him, the former city hall was transformed into a hub for commerce and numerous businesses were started on and around Fremont Street. His willingness to think big and out of the box pushed the redevelopment of Downtown farther and faster than most thought possible.”
Hsieh invested primarily in the East Fremont Street area and turned some iffy properties into a place now no one fears to tread. The basis for his decision to invest so heavily in Downtown stems from his understanding of a trend that he saw firsthand: the desire for Millennials to live and work within an urban area and not to commute inward from the suburbs.
He started amassing his fortune at a young age. At 24, Hsieh sold LinkExchange, an online marketing firm, to Microsoft Corporation for $265 million in stock. Shortly thereafter, Hsieh invested in Zappo’s, originally called ShoeSite.com. Hsieh and cofounder Nick Swinmurn ran the company together for a few years before moving the business from San Francisco to Henderson in 2004.
Hsieh became involved with Zappos as an advisor and investor in 1999, about two months after the company was founded. He eventually joined Zappos full time in 2000. Under Hsieh’s leadership, Zappos gross merchandise sales grew from $1.6 million in 2000 to over $1 billion in 2008.
In 2009, Hsieh, then chief executive, sold Zappo’s to online retail monolith Amazon for roughly $1.2 billion. In 2013, Hsieh moved Zappo’s headquarters from Henderson to the 11-story former Las Vegas City Hall.
Just this past August, Hsieh stepped down from the company he helped build and began a homebuying spree in the upscale ski town of Park City, Utah, including a 17,350-square-foot mansion complete with a sports court, private lake and horse riding corral, as well as other homes no smaller than 2,900 square feet. And in October, Hsieh’s side company DTP Companies — the downtown investment side of Hsieh’s empire formerly called the Downtown Project and begun in 2012 — bought Zappo’s headquarters for $65 million.
This brought about 1,500 workers into the center of Downtown, where Hsieh’s investments gave them something to do where before there was just decaying buildings and sketchy alleys. Now people had a reason to walk down East Fremont past the Fremont Street Experience besides just to go to the Atomic Café.
“We inspire people to live, work, and play through cultivating environments that encourage creativity, discovery, and WOW experiences,” according to DTP’s mission statement. “DTP is dedicated to helping revitalize part of Downtown Las Vegas through investment in small businesses; tech startups; real estate and development; and arts, culture and education. We are doing that by inspiring and empowering people to follow their passions to create a vibrant, connected urban core.”
DTP’s projects included Container Park and the Fremont9 apartments, a joint venture with the Wolff Company of Arizona. Container Park is an outdoor shopping mall and entertainment complex Downtown, where its tenants are housed in metal cubes and shipping containers.
Critics of DTP’s redevelopment plan cited more expensive housing in a market in which affordable housing already is hard to find. According to its website, the Fremont9 apartments, located at 901 Fremont St., range in price from $1,177 to $4,503 per month and range in size from 395 to 1,444 square feet.
Hsieh also was a strong supporter of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. He donated $1 million to the Smith Center and would buy all the tickets in his box and distribute them among his employees.
“Tony’s kindness and generosity touched the lives of everyone around him and forever brightened the world,” according to a statement from DTP Companies. “Delivering happiness was always his mantra, so instead of mourning his transition, we ask you to join us in celebrating his life.”
Delivering Happiness was not just Hsieh’s mantra but it also was the title of his 2010 autobiography. In his book, Hsieh tells of his business strategy to make customer service the responsibility of all employees, not just the department, and how to incorporate the science of happiness into the workplace. Under his leadership, Zappo’s debuted as the highest-ranking newcomer in Fortune magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009.
The DTP release goes on to say: “On behalf of all DTP companies employees and staff, we would like to express our deepest condolences to Tony’s family and friends who have all lost Tony as a cherished loved one, visionary and friend. Tony was highly regarded by all of his fellow friends and colleagues in the tight-knit family at DTP companies, so this heartbreaking tragedy is one that affects many involved.”
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman tweeted recently: “He was always dreaming, working to inspire and leading others to create a new vision.”
Ironically, Hsieh’s last days were anything but happy. In an article in Forbes magazine, authors Angela Au-Yeung and David Jeans, described a man so desperate for companionship that he hired a team of people just to be around him as he invested millions of dollars in Park City, while constantly huffing nitrous oxide. He was befriended by the singer, Jewel, who left abruptly in August after spending the summer there, leaving Hsieh a letter outlining the dangerous path he was on.
“The people you are surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself,” she wrote.
Even Hsieh’s death is shrouded in mystery. The house he was in he had given to a former employee, with whom he was still close. Several other people got out of the house safely, but Hsieh was found locked inside a storage area. Police and fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.
In the end, a person who had inspired happiness in others was the one searching hopelessly for it himself.
