After an hour-long meeting with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Hsieh sensed that Amazon would be open to letting Zappos continue to operate as an independent entity, and started negotiations.[8] On July 22, 2009, Amazon announced that it would buy Zappos for $940 million in a stock and cash deal.[19][20][21] Owners of shares of Zappos were set to receive approximately 10 million Amazon.com shares, and employees would receive a separate $40 million in cash and restricted stock units.[21] The deal was eventually closed in November 2009 for a reported $1.2 billion.[19]