Tony Hsieh: Former CEO of Zappos

About Tony Hsieh: Former CEO of Zappos

Anthony "Tony" Hsieh (December 12, 1973 to November 27, 2020) was an American Internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He retired as CEO of the online shoe and clothing company Zappos in August 2020 after 21 years. Before joining Zappos he co-founded the Internet advertising network LinkExchange, which he sold to Microsoft in 1998 for $265 million. Hsieh was born to a Taiwanese American family in Urbana, Illinois; his parents, Richard and Judy Hsieh, were immigrants from Taiwan who met in graduate school at the University of Illinois. The family moved to the Lucas Valley area of Marin County, California, when he was five. His mother was a social worker and his father a chemical engineer at Chevron, and he had two younger brothers, Andy and Dave. He attended the Branson School and in 1995 graduated from Harvard with a degree in computer science. At Harvard he ran the Quincy House grill, selling pizza to students in his dorm; his best customer, Alfred Lin, would later become Zappos's chief financial officer and chief operating officer. After college Hsieh worked at Oracle for five months before leaving to co-found LinkExchange. In 1996 he started developing the idea for the advertising network with college classmates Sanjay Madan and Ali Partovi, which let members advertise on other members' sites in exchange for placing ads on their own. Sources: English Wikipedia (Tony Hsieh, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Former CEO, Zappos; co-founder, LinkExchange (1973-2020)

Company Details

Zappos / LinkExchange

E-commerce, Online Retail, Advertising Technology

Related Business Owner

Jerry Reinsdorf: Owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox

Sports & Entertainment

Woody Johnson: Owner of the New York Jets

Sports & Entertainment

Jeffrey Lurie: Owner of the Philadelphia Eagles

Sports & Entertainment

Joe Lacob: Principal Owner of the Golden State Warriors

Sports & Entertainment