Award Ceremony Honors Outstanding Asian-Americans in Business

From his casual and relaxed demeanor, Tony Hsieh, 35, wouldn’t strike most people as a CEO of a company that was recently acquired by Amazon.com for just under a billion dollars.
Award Ceremony Honors Outstanding Asian-Americans in Business
MEETING THE COMMUNITY: Queens council member and mayoral candidate Tony Avella visits with the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Manhattan Chinatown on Wednesday. (Jianguo Wu/The Epoch Times)
6/16/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Tony.jpg" alt="Founder and CEO of Zappos.com Tony Hsieh receives the Pinnacle Award at the Outstanding 50 Asian-Americans in Business ceremony in Manhattan.  (Diana Hubert/The Epoch Times)" title="Founder and CEO of Zappos.com Tony Hsieh receives the Pinnacle Award at the Outstanding 50 Asian-Americans in Business ceremony in Manhattan.  (Diana Hubert/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1818539"/></a>
Founder and CEO of Zappos.com Tony Hsieh receives the Pinnacle Award at the Outstanding 50 Asian-Americans in Business ceremony in Manhattan.  (Diana Hubert/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK—From his casual and relaxed demeanor, Tony Hsieh, 35, wouldn’t strike most people as a CEO of a company that was recently acquired by Amazon.com for just under a billion dollars.

Hsieh, CEO of the online clothing and shoe store Zappos.com , credits his impressive success to the work culture within his company, as well as to staying true to himself and following his passion.

“We want to hire employees who can be themselves in the office, so there’s no difference between how they are at home with their friends and how they are when they’re in the office,” Hsieh said. “Because employees can be comfortable to be themselves, a lot of creativity comes out of that.”

Hsieh was honored with the Pinnacle Award at the ninth annual Outstanding 50 Asian—Americans in Business ceremony this Thursday for his exemplary achievement as an Asian-American. He was joined by 49 other award recipients who were also recognized for their significant contributions to the business community.

The black-tie affair at the Hilton in Manhattan was hosted by the Asian-American Business Development Center. Friends and family members of the honorees gathered at the event to celebrate their loved ones’ achievements.

Kris Ishibashi, director at Con Edison and award recipient, said that the opportunities for Asian-Americans in the business world have come a long way.

“My uncle graduated from the University of Chicago in the 1950s. He couldn’t get a job with any private company, they all told him that while he was qualified that it just wouldn’t work,” Ishibashi said. “The opportunities that are available now are really phenomenal compared to where we were 60 years ago.”