Smoke inhalation complications cause of death for former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live (WSJDLive) conference at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, California October 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake
NEW LONDON, Connecticut: Tony Hsieh, the retired CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, died from complications of smoke inhalation sustained during a house fire earlier this month in Connecticut, the state medical examiner's office said Monday (Nov 30).
The death on Friday of Hsieh, 46, was ruled an accident. He had been hospitalised following the Nov 18 fire in New London, Connecticut.
READ: Tony Hsieh, retired Zappos CEO, dies aged 46 after house fire
The cause of the blaze was still under investigation. The New London police department said emergency workers arrived at the scene to find dark smoke coming out from the back of the house, and that Hsieh was in a storage area and could not get out.
Hsieh had led the Las Vegas-based Zappos for 20 years before retiring. The Harvard University graduate remained at the online retailer even after it was sold in 2009 to Amazon for US$1.2 billion.
