Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, announced plans to retire after guiding the online footwear giant for two decades. Zappos’ COO Kedar Deshpande will succeed Hsieh as CEO.
“We want to thank Tony for his 20 years of work on behalf of Zappos customers, and we wish him well in his retirement,” Zappos confirmed in a brief statement to media outlets.
“I’m reaching out to share that Tony has decided to retire as CEO of Zappos. We want to thank Tony for his 20 years of work on behalf of Zappos customers and employees and wish him well in his next chapter,” Deshpande wrote in an e-mail to Zappos’ employees. “Effective today, I will be assuming the role of CEO and will be working to make this a seamless transition. As always, we are focused on wowing customers and the 10 core values that drive us every day.”
Hsieh’s leaving was first reported by Footwear News.
Zappos started out as Shoesite.com, founded by Nick Swinmurn. Hsieh was initially an investor in the company. The company’s name was changed to Zappos in 1999 and Hsieh became CEO in 2001.
In 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon in 2009 for a reported $1.2 billion. Hsieh, 46, also led the Downtown Project, now branded DTP, which focused on revitalizing downtown Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy Tony Hsieh
