LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man is claiming to be owed more than $12 million of former Zappos CEO and Las Vegas entrepreneur Tony Hsieh’s estate, as part of a deal made on a sticky note, new court documents filed Tuesday said.
According to the creditor’s claim, Mark Evensvold is petitioning for $12.5 million as part of a contract he entered with Hsieh at a Park City, Utah, property to help with bars, security and project management. His job brought in a $450,000 salary, the claim said.
The claim, which is part of the legal probate process in cases where a person did not leave a will, includes a copy of the Post-it note and a transcription of a conversation between Evensvold and Hsieh from August 2020.
Previous court documents have estimated Hsieh’s wealth at $840 million. Hsieh died in a house fire in November 2020 in Connecticut. He was 46. In December, a judge named his father and brother as special administrators to his estate, since he did not have a will.
According to the claim and the Post-it note, Evensvold said he entered a contact with Hsieh over a business called Nacho Daddy and is owed a signing bonus and a portion of Hsieh’s interest.
It is unclear if the transcript provided in the claim is from a recorded conversation. It is titled “August 19, 2020, 3:12 p.m., Tony and Mark on the beach.” The conversation, according to the transcript in the claim, includes discussion about a Park City lodge.
The conversation includes discussion about signing “a contract in Post-it note form” to send to Hsieh’s assistant, according to the claim.
In March, the administrators of Hsieh’s estate filed paperwork to explore the sale of nearly two dozen of the late entrepreneur’s properties in Utah, documents obtained by the I-Team show. Hsieh had lived the last few months of his life in Utah and was working on several projects there, several lawsuits filed in court indicated.
The properties vary from houses in Park City to a resort near St. George, Utah, documents revealed. The combined market value for all the properties was listed at nearly $30 million, assessors’ records stated.
A spokesperson for Hsieh’s family has declined to comment on the ongoing legal matters.
Photos from the pool shed when Hsieh was found unresponsive in November show Post-it notes his team was giving him to check on him that morning.
Surveillance video showed Hsieh opening the door to the shed as smoke appeared to be coming from it 10 minutes before his friends call 911, investigators said in January. An employee had been checking on Hsieh every 10 minutes, leaving Post-it Notes and knocking on the shed’s door before the fire, investigators said.
