THE MAN WHO GAVE TOO MUCH

WHEN ZAPPOS CEO TONY HSIEH DIED AT 46 IN 2020 AFTER A MYSTERIOUS FIRE, IT WAS REVEALED BY FORBES TO BE DRUG-RELATED. BUT HIS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE SPIRAL WAS EVIDENT MONTHS EARLIER IN THE UTOPIAN COMMUNITY HE TRIED TO BUILD IN PARK CITY, UTAH. IN THIS EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM WONDER BOY, HSIEH BEGAN PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO A SYCOPHANTIC CIRCLE OF ACOLYTES IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO DELIVER HIM HAPPINESS DURING THE FINAL WEEKS OF HIS LIFE

- Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans

AFTER A MANIC EPISODE and a subsequent hospital stay in June 2020, his parents had arrived in town with his two brothers, Dave and Andy. Despite their arrival, Tony spent little time with them, and asked friends to ensure that he would never be left alone with them.

In the moments Hsieh did spend with his family, he left them struggling to connect with him. During one moment with his mother, Judy, he said he would be open with her if she would act like his friend. If she acted like a family member, then he would hide information from her. After Judy told him that he needed to see a therapist, he said he would, but only if for every minute he was in therapy she would sit in an ice bath. When she pressed the therapy point once more, mentioning his issues with attention, Tony left the house in a rage.

When it came time for the family to depart, Andy thought twice about leaving. Despite their distance over the years, seeing a swirl of new people he had never met before made him want to stay in Park City and keep an eye on his older brother. Ten days later, he returned and quickly realized that he had entered an ecosystem where people were competing for Tony's money, pitching projects that didn't make sense and living in houses they would never be able to afford otherwise. And there was a rule that ominously dictated many behaviors in the Park City enclave: Never tell Tony you were concerned about his behavior. To do so meant risking ex-communication.