TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh ( 謝家華) has died at the age of 46 after a house fire, reports said Friday (Nov. 27).

Both of his parents were Taiwanese, but Hsieh was born in the state of Illinois. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in computer science before joining tech giant Oracle.

After just five months, he left to found a company of his own, which he later sold to Microsoft. He went on to gain control over an online shoe company, which was renamed Zappos and played a role in the revolutionizing of retail and online shopping.

He sold the company to Amazon in 2009 but stayed on as CEO until last August, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The tycoon had played a role in Nevada's renovation projects and recently bought a considerable amount of real estate in the Utah ski resort of Park City.

An attorney for Hsieh said the business leader had died “due to complications from injuries sustained in a house fire,” the Review-Journal reported.