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https://www.wsj.com/articles/
tony-hsieh-zappos-death-entourage-11616761915

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Valerie Chiang
Tech

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Bankrolled His Followers. In Return, They
Enabled His Risky Lifestyle.

The group that surrounded the late Zappos boss helped sustain his
drug habit, protected him from outsiders and lived off his largess

Valerie Chiang
By
Kirsten Grind
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Kirsten Grind

  * Biography
  * @kirstengrind
  * kirsten.grind@wsj.com

and
Katherine Sayre
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Katherine Sayre

  * Biography
  * @katherinesayre
  * katherine.sayre@wsj.com

March 26, 2021 9:26 am ET

Andy Hsieh banged on the door of a shed at a waterfront home in New
London, Conn., and said it was time to go. Chauffeurs were waiting to
take everybody to the airport for a trip to Hawaii.

His brother Tony, the mastermind and former chief executive of Zappos
Inc., had locked himself inside with a propane space heater and
canisters of nitrous oxide, a mind-altering gas he habitually used.
He asked Andy for five more minutes.

Soon, smoke began pouring out of the shed.

A recording of a predawn 911 call on Nov. 18 captured people yelling
for the security code to open the shed's electronic lock. A chorus of
voices screamed "Tony! Tony!" over and over.

Nearly all of the people trying to break into the shed, including
Andy, were on Mr. Hsieh's payroll, part of an entourage of paid
followers enlisted in his spiritual journey.

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