Why Investigators Already Think Tony Hsieh's Will Is Fake
Nobody named in Tony Hsieh's supposed will has ever come forward. That alone should tell you where this case is heading.
A forensic specialist began testing the seven-page document in early June, more than a year after it mysteriously arrived by mail at a Las Vegas courthouse, with a written report expected by 24 July.
The Document Nobody Can Verify
Hsieh, the former Zappos CEO, died at age 46 from injuries sustained in a 2020 Connecticut house fire, and was long believed to have died without a will.
A purported seven-page will, dated March 2015, arrived unannounced at the Clark County District Court clerk's office roughly a year ago, sent by someone who has never appeared in court to explain how they obtained it.
The document names two Las Vegas-area attorneys as co-executors who say they never met Hsieh and didn't know they'd been named until the will surfaced.
It also includes a no-contest clause aimed squarely at Hsieh's parents and two younger brothers: if any one of them challenges the will, all of them could be cut out of the estate entirely.
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Why the Estate Believes It's a Scam
None of Hsieh's family, friends or business associates have ever heard of the witnesses named in the document.
The man who allegedly sent the will, identifying himself as Kashif Singh, claimed he found it among his late grandfather's belongings, and provided a death certificate from Balochistan, Pakistan, that investigators describe as generic and unverifiable.
Investigators also found that email addresses listed in the will were created after the document's claimed signing date, and forensic document examiner Larry Stewart concluded the signatures don't match Hsieh's own handwriting.
Hsieh's father, Richard, has called the document a scam outright, telling the court in filings that "the more one digs, the more flaws appear in the story."
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What the Forensic Testing Will Actually Show
Special master Gerry LaPorte's team shipped roughly 150 pounds of forensic equipment from Virginia to the Nevada courthouse to conduct the analysis on-site.
The testing focuses primarily on the ink used in the signatures, examining whether its chemical composition is consistent with manufacturing before or after the will's claimed 2015 signing date.
LaPorte has also recommended handwriting analysis, fingerprint scans and DNA examination, though attorneys for Hsieh's estate have pushed back on doing every test at once, calling some of it premature.
The samples taken are described as "semi-destructive," roughly the size of a printed period or pinhole, and won't affect the document's legibility or evidentiary value.
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The Stakes
Hsieh's estate has previously been valued at between $513 million and $850 million, with numerous creditors and claimants already lined up seeking payment.
Hsieh's family has separately argued in court filings that he lacked the mental capacity to sign off on major contracts in the years leading up to his death, a claim that would complicate the will's validity even if it were proven genuine.
Hsieh's family has hired its own forensic expert, Larry Stewart, a former US Secret Service lab director who has previously worked on the Unabomber investigation and reinvestigations into the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.
TL;DR
- Forensic testing began in June on a disputed 2015 will in the Tony Hsieh estate case.
- Investigators found no evidence any of the will's named witnesses actually exist.
- A forensic document examiner concluded the signatures don't match Hsieh's own handwriting.
- Hsieh's estate is valued at between $513 million and $850 million.
- A written forensic report is expected by 24 July, with family experts able to respond afterward.
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Politics & World News Editor
James Mitchell has covered US and UK politics for over a decade, with a focus on elections, foreign policy, and Capitol Hill. He breaks down complex political stories into clear, fast analysis.
