Tony Hsieh Dead at 46

People say nice things when someone dies. The thing to look for is consistency. And in the case of Tony Hsieh’s untimely passing from injuries in a house fire, everyone has been saying the exact same thing about what a generous, kind, and insightful friend he was. A life well lived, a life too short. Tony built Zappos and rebuilt downtown Vegas. I didn’t know him well, but I was quite moved by the outpouring on social media. My friend Om Malik got at a broader feeling I had when I heard the bad news. “With Tony’s passing, I feel something special has ended. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe a certain innocent aspect of the early possibilities of the Internet.” All of 2020 feels like that. Tony Hsieh, RIP.