8 ms·

Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide. [1] https://

by v64 6y ago

Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843

paul7986 6y ago
The singer, Jewel who was a friend sounded an alarm in August https://people.com/music/jewel-wrote-to-tony-hsieh-before-his-death/ https://people.com/music/jewel-wrote-to-tony-hsieh-before-hi... She's pretty credible.
- fossuser 6y ago
  She sounds like someone that actually cared about him. It’s terrible that someone who seemed like a genuinely kind person ended up surrounded by sycophants taking advantage of his wealth and encouraging his drug issues. "I am going to be blunt," she wrote in the letter, obtained by Forbes. "I need to tell you that I don’t think you are well and in your right mind. I think you are taking too many drugs that cause you to disassociate. “Jewel reportedly told Hsieh in the note that "people you are surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself. “When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble," Jewel wrote, according to Forbes. “You are in trouble, Tony.” She was right.
  - paul7986 6y ago
    Indeed and thus life is hard whether your poor or rich, especially for those who suddenly get mega wealthly or fame. They seem to cant handle it very well from Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston to Tony to many others. A lot of us I imagine wanted to be in Tony's position, yet would you still want to be him with how it all went down? His mega-wealth and fame of wealth seem to be his un-doing.
    - fairity 6y ago
      > A lot of us I imagine wanted to be in Tony's position, yet would you still want to be him with how it all went down? Yes. A lot of people who don't have this type of success like to discredit the lives of those that do in order to protect their self-image. On average, wealth and status increase your quality of life. I do think there's a lesson to be learned here about the problems that come with wealth and status. To dismiss the net benefits of wealth and status is the wrong lesson.
    - pkaye 6y ago
      But a rich person can absolutely live an average persons lifestyle. I believe Warren Buffet lives in an modest house and still drives his old car.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- RichardCA 6y ago
  It's actually worthwhile to listen to what Jewel had to say: https://youtu.be/GxqeOwVl0IQ https://youtu.be/GxqeOwVl0IQ I was captivated when she described hearing Tony describe his vision for Holocracy, I finally understood what he was aiming for.
pcunite 6y ago
On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment, no less. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often becoming like. I hope we can rise above this and allow discussion, even topics we don't think we need to hear.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often like. There's also the twin concepts of tact and good taste. If someone wants to dig into a dead person's dark side, go ahead. But not immediately after his death. There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. It's not like knowing bad things about him two weeks later changes anything at all.
  - ejb999 6y ago
    >>There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. There is nothing wrong with a little truth or facts either...the guy is dead, he won't be offended.
    - macintux 6y ago
      Family & friends, however, might appreciate less speculation and fewer character attacks if it turns out not to be true. Even if it is true, I’m sure they’d appreciate an opportunity to mourn in peace.
    - chishaku 6y ago
      Creating a burner just to make this comment is arguing against yourself.
- GavinMcG 6y ago
  "Sharing hard truths" without credible backup should be flagged when it's personal information like that. Gossip and tawdry accusations don't have a place in a community devoted to responsible discourse, especially because lies spread faster than the truth. Having the same conversation now rather than right in the heat of things is fine.
breck 6y ago
I would love it if dang could weigh in on this tough issue. There were a number of people being downvoted asking questions about how this could have happened, and now to see that someone posted the true answer and it was flagged and hidden, that I think reflects poorly on HN and warrants an explanation. I'll never forget at my first friend's funeral when his mother said during the eulogy "My son was a drug addict." It was so heartbreaking but so important to speak the truth and be open about it in order to pay respect to him and call out for action so that more mom's don't have to make that speech. She did not bury the truth and "wait out of respect", she confronted it head on. If she can do that and do it in a positive way then I think an Internet forum could do it too. The truth is it seems if it weren't for a few of Tony's friends sharing the whole story, the truth may have been buried and many more may have gone down that path.
- eli 6y ago
  Speculating about the circumstances of someone's death can be in poor taste even if some of the speculation turns out to be correct.
  - breck 6y ago
    This person clearly stated they weren't speculating, and any long time HN user could tell that they were likely credible and not a troll account. At least that's my take, that's why it would be good to hear from dang why this was buried.
    - eli 6y ago
      Yes, the anonymous account certainly did claim to know for sure.
- detaro 6y ago
  A relative talking about it at the funeral is quite different than anonymous claims that are impossible to (dis)prove within hours of the death.
  - 6y ago
rsync 6y ago
"Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide." Sorry to be daft ... in the prior HN discussion, which you linked to, people spoke of "nitrous ... and a candle obsession" ... candles are mentioned several times ... Is that a euphemism ? Or is there some connection in nitrous usage ? Or is it, simply, he really liked burning literal candles ?
- FPGAhacker 6y ago
  Per the article, candles were relevant to his fire fixation. He also had a fixation on figuring out what his body could live without. Including food and oxygen. Nitrous oxide was one of the ways he would deprive himself of oxygen.
dang 6y ago
We don't know why it was flagged, so that's speculation too.
sebmellen 6y ago
Yeah, I got downvoted to hell after asking a simple question of how this happened and if anyone had a source [0]. Really reflects pretty badly on that whole thread. Lots of fawning over Hsieh and anger at people who were asking questions, or revealing what really happened under throwaway accounts. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235890 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235890
4354362626 6y ago
Great example of why downvoting, flagging, and karma are cancerous.

by v64 6y ago

paul7986 6y ago

The singer, Jewel who was a friend sounded an alarm in August https://people.com/music/jewel-wrote-to-tony-hsieh-before-his-death/ https://people.com/music/jewel-wrote-to-tony-hsieh-before-hi... She's pretty credible.

fossuser 6y ago
She sounds like someone that actually cared about him. It’s terrible that someone who seemed like a genuinely kind person ended up surrounded by sycophants taking advantage of his wealth and encouraging his drug issues. "I am going to be blunt," she wrote in the letter, obtained by Forbes. "I need to tell you that I don’t think you are well and in your right mind. I think you are taking too many drugs that cause you to disassociate. “Jewel reportedly told Hsieh in the note that "people you are surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself. “When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble," Jewel wrote, according to Forbes. “You are in trouble, Tony.” She was right.
- paul7986 6y ago
  Indeed and thus life is hard whether your poor or rich, especially for those who suddenly get mega wealthly or fame. They seem to cant handle it very well from Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston to Tony to many others. A lot of us I imagine wanted to be in Tony's position, yet would you still want to be him with how it all went down? His mega-wealth and fame of wealth seem to be his un-doing.
  - fairity 6y ago
    > A lot of us I imagine wanted to be in Tony's position, yet would you still want to be him with how it all went down? Yes. A lot of people who don't have this type of success like to discredit the lives of those that do in order to protect their self-image. On average, wealth and status increase your quality of life. I do think there's a lesson to be learned here about the problems that come with wealth and status. To dismiss the net benefits of wealth and status is the wrong lesson.
  - pkaye 6y ago
    But a rich person can absolutely live an average persons lifestyle. I believe Warren Buffet lives in an modest house and still drives his old car.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
RichardCA 6y ago
It's actually worthwhile to listen to what Jewel had to say: https://youtu.be/GxqeOwVl0IQ https://youtu.be/GxqeOwVl0IQ I was captivated when she described hearing Tony describe his vision for Holocracy, I finally understood what he was aiming for.

pcunite 6y ago

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment, no less. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often becoming like. I hope we can rise above this and allow discussion, even topics we don't think we need to hear.

reaperducer 6y ago
On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often like. There's also the twin concepts of tact and good taste. If someone wants to dig into a dead person's dark side, go ahead. But not immediately after his death. There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. It's not like knowing bad things about him two weeks later changes anything at all.
- ejb999 6y ago
  >>There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. There is nothing wrong with a little truth or facts either...the guy is dead, he won't be offended.
  - macintux 6y ago
    Family & friends, however, might appreciate less speculation and fewer character attacks if it turns out not to be true. Even if it is true, I’m sure they’d appreciate an opportunity to mourn in peace.
  - chishaku 6y ago
    Creating a burner just to make this comment is arguing against yourself.
GavinMcG 6y ago
"Sharing hard truths" without credible backup should be flagged when it's personal information like that. Gossip and tawdry accusations don't have a place in a community devoted to responsible discourse, especially because lies spread faster than the truth. Having the same conversation now rather than right in the heat of things is fine.

breck 6y ago

I would love it if dang could weigh in on this tough issue. There were a number of people being downvoted asking questions about how this could have happened, and now to see that someone posted the true answer and it was flagged and hidden, that I think reflects poorly on HN and warrants an explanation. I'll never forget at my first friend's funeral when his mother said during the eulogy "My son was a drug addict." It was so heartbreaking but so important to speak the truth and be open about it in order to pay respect to him and call out for action so that more mom's don't have to make that speech. She did not bury the truth and "wait out of respect", she confronted it head on. If she can do that and do it in a positive way then I think an Internet forum could do it too. The truth is it seems if it weren't for a few of Tony's friends sharing the whole story, the truth may have been buried and many more may have gone down that path.

eli 6y ago
Speculating about the circumstances of someone's death can be in poor taste even if some of the speculation turns out to be correct.
- breck 6y ago
  This person clearly stated they weren't speculating, and any long time HN user could tell that they were likely credible and not a troll account. At least that's my take, that's why it would be good to hear from dang why this was buried.
  - eli 6y ago
    Yes, the anonymous account certainly did claim to know for sure.
detaro 6y ago
A relative talking about it at the funeral is quite different than anonymous claims that are impossible to (dis)prove within hours of the death.
- 6y ago

rsync 6y ago

"Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide." Sorry to be daft ... in the prior HN discussion, which you linked to, people spoke of "nitrous ... and a candle obsession" ... candles are mentioned several times ... Is that a euphemism ? Or is there some connection in nitrous usage ? Or is it, simply, he really liked burning literal candles ?

FPGAhacker 6y ago
Per the article, candles were relevant to his fire fixation. He also had a fixation on figuring out what his body could live without. Including food and oxygen. Nitrous oxide was one of the ways he would deprive himself of oxygen.

dang 6y ago

We don't know why it was flagged, so that's speculation too.

sebmellen 6y ago

Yeah, I got downvoted to hell after asking a simple question of how this happened and if anyone had a source [0]. Really reflects pretty badly on that whole thread. Lots of fawning over Hsieh and anger at people who were asking questions, or revealing what really happened under throwaway accounts. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235890 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235890

4354362626 6y ago

Great example of why downvoting, flagging, and karma are cancerous.