Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos Ceo Tony Hsieh by Kristen Grind and Katherine Sayre

In November of 2020, I was in Darien, Connecticut for the Thanksgiving holiday staying with my sister-in-law, Jen, and her family. It was that weekend that I heard the news that in New London, Connecticut, just 90 minutes away, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, had died of smoke inhalation while sleeping in a pool storage shed full of foam pool noodles and beach chairs. Apparently, he had gone to sleep in the shed after having a fight inside the main house with his girlfriend, Rachael Brown. No one knew how the fire had started, but rumors said Hsieh has a fascination with fire. Immediately, I had to find out more. He was only 46 years old. My research led me to this book, "Happy at Any Cost," which does a deep dive into the stunning rise and tragic fall of Hsieh. Written by "Wall Street Journal" reporters Kristen Grind and Katherine Sayre, the book follows the entrepreneur's quest for "happiness," a concept he often spoke about. At the on-line shoe retailer Zappos, he promoted a workplace where employees were treated like family, and hierarchies were replaced with inclusiveness and connectivity. His vision extended beyond the walls of his businesses and homes, as he poured millions of dollars into communities such as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Park City, Utah. To an outsider, he might have seemed like the ultimate rich boy/partier, often drinking alcohol at all hours of the day with employees. But Grind and Sayre reveal a troubled man plagued by addiction, mental illness and alienation. His friends tried to get him intro rehab many times, but his power and money were too strong for everyone around him to resist. His early death was tragic, but the story behind his death is a rare glimpse inside Silicon Valley success, and the high-tech business world that inspired Amazon and thousands of other online stores. To buy this book on Amazon click here.