The Cost of Happiness · Imperative Entertainment and Vespucci

Alone In Utah | Chapter 6

January 9, 2023·39 min·3 clips

Singer Jewel sent Tony Hsieh a FedEx letter warning him: 'The people you're surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself.'

A warning comes first. The host opens with mental health resources, then returns to reports that concern about the Downtown Project was treated like a threat. The pattern starts quiet, then gets harder to ignore. Several people tell the host that criticizing the project came with consequences: reprimands, pressure to quiet a local critic, and a sense that they were no longer safe. They did not all work there, which makes the gap sharper between the Downtown Project's talk of community and the accounts of people who say dissent was handled from outside. The circle keeps tightening. People around Tony are described as guarding their access, money, and good time by keeping out anyone who might interrupt the party. Tyler Williams loses his place. Once one of Tony's closest friends, he is pushed aside after trying to keep Tony's ketamine supplier away. A tally tracks closeness. The host says Tony kept score of who was nearest to him, turning friendship into rank and access into something controlled. Then security becomes the gate. At the Park City compound, hired guards watch who can enter and sometimes physically block people outside the inner circle from seeing him. Family members try anyway. Some of Tony Hsieh's relatives come to the home multiple times, but guards hired by Tony and his lackeys keep them out. Tom Perotta remembers the house. Invited by Rachel Brown, a Zappos employee said to be Tony's girlfriend at the time, he visits Utah in 2020 and finds a fortified property. Even walks feel watched. Perotta recalls security everywhere, and the host adds that neighbors complained while police often struggled to get past the private guards.

As heard by us

A controlled look at a happiness story that turns guarded, uneasy, and quietly exclusionary.

Alone In Utah follows the Downtown Project as its talk of community and happiness gives way to reprimands, pressure, and Tony Hsieh's inner circle.

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Why you'd press play

Inside a happiness empire, the doors close and the silence gets louder.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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