Photo from Robert Scoble via Flickr Creative Commons
We’re learning more about the final months leading up to the death of Tony Hsieh.
The New York Post reports the former CEO of Zappos spent his final hours planning to enter rehab and had hoped to check into a center in Hawaii. As AsAmNews previously reported, friends including Jewel had held interventions, trying to warn him about his destructive behavior.
They say he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms and ecstasy.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday Hsieh had become fixated with fire and fell into drug abuse while isolating himself from family and friends. A friend who visited Hsieh in Park City, UT witnessed thousands of candles there which Hsieh saw as a symbol of a simpler time.
The Journal reports Hsieh went into the shed the day of the fire in Connecticut with the intent of using a heater to lower the oxygen level. He had asked friends there to check on him every five minutes.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
The Post also reports Hsieh had completed a bizarre diet in which he would only eat foods over 26 days starting with a specific letter each day.
His weight dipped to as low as 100 pounds, according to a friend.
Hsieh died without a will indicating that perhaps he was not planning suicide. A judge recently appointed his father and brother as executors of his estate, according to Fox 6.
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Tragic. It happens even to those on the top and those of influence. I’ve witnessed how hallucinogens’ can destroy even the most brilliant of minds and tragically, can be so destructive for many lives. My condolences, prayers and thoughts goes out to those greatly impacted by such an unfortunate loss of Tony Hsieh. He will be greatly missed.