scorecardTributes pour in on Twitter in the wake of former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's death
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Tributes pour in on Twitter in the wake of former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's death

Yelena Dzhanova   

Tributes pour in on Twitter in the wake of former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's death
Hsieh speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative America at the Sheridan Downtown Denver, June 25, 2014Andy Cross / The Denver Post via Getty Images
  • Investors, journalists, politicians, and tech founders are paying tribute to former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who died Friday, according to multiple reports.
  • Hsieh died at 46 from injuries sustained during a house fire in Connecticut while visiting family.

News of Tony Hsieh's death rumbled social media Saturday morning as investors, journalists, politicians, and tech founders paid tribute to the former Zappos CEO.

Hsieh died at 46 from injuries sustained during a house fire in Connecticut, according to multiple reports.

Amazon in 2009 acquired Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer, for a hefty $1.2 billion. Hsieh was involved with Zappos for two decades before he retired, continuing in the role even after the sale to Amazon. He stepped down in August.

"The world has lost a tremendous visionary and an incredible human being," Zappos CEO Kedar Deshpande said in a statement. "We recognize that not only have we lost our inspiring former leader, but many of you have also lost a mentor and a friend."

Among those posting tributes to Twitter are former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Recode Founder Kara Swisher, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, and scores of startup and tech CEOs.

Other Nevada leaders heralded Hsieh, who is recognized as a major influencer in the formation of several downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, initiatives.

Hsieh in 2012 founded the Downtown Project, for example, a $350 million investment intended to revitalize the Las Vegas downtown area.

Las Vegas legislator Cedric Crear wrote that he was "saddened" by the news of Hsieh's death. Crear, like many others, took to Twitter in the wake of Hsieh's death to commemorate the late entrepreneur.

"Such a creative & innovative person who positively helped change the landscape of Downtown Las Vegas," he tweeted. "We have been working on some cool projects for Downtown. God speed to his family, coworkers and our community."

Here are the tributes that poured in on Twitter to commemorate Hsieh's life:

Andrew Yang, former 2020 presidential candidate and entrepreneur

 

Peter Pham, cofounder and partner of startup Science

 

Brooke Hammerling, founder of communications advisory group The New New Thing

 

Garry Tan, Initialized Capital cofounder and former Y Combinator partner

 

Kara Swisher, tech journalist and Recode cofounder

 

Alfred Lin, partner at Sequoia Capital

 

Tony Hawk, skateboarding legend

 

Chris Sacca, investor and former "Shark Tank" judge

 

Ali Partovi, NEO CEO and former LinkExchange founder

 

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vayner Media

 

Steve Sisolak, Nevada governor

 

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