UPDATE: If this report from peHUB is true, then Tony Hsieh must not be a happy CEO by now. “The decision to sell hot online shoe retailer Zappos to Amazon.com was more in line with the interests of Sequoia Capital than the company’s CEO, according to two sources close to the company,” the report said.
Amazon.com, Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire Zappos.com, Inc. for approximately $847 million.
Zappos, a footwear and apparel retailer, is known for its exemplary culture of customer service brought by its founder and CEO Tony Hsieh. It is good then to know that following the acquisition, the Zappos management team will remain intact and that it will operate independently in Las Vegas. We do not mark this acquisition as successful without Tony Hsieh.
Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares and assume all outstanding options and warrants of Zappos in exchange for approximately 10 million shares of Amazon common stock, equal to approximately $807 million based on the average closing price for the 45 trading days ending July 17, 2009. In addition, Amazon will provide Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units.