Wild Idea

The incredible true story of an entrepreneur turned conservationist—the founder of the iconic companies The North Face and Esprit who used his fortune to protect over 12-million acres of land from development and exploitation and battle to save the wild. 

In 1991, Doug Tompkins left his comfortable life in San Francisco and flew 6,500 miles south to a shack in Patagonia. Instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tompkins now stared out the window at Volcano Michinmahuida, blanketed in snow and prowled by mountain lions. All of his possessions fit into a single duffel bag. Shielded by perfect nature, Tompkins regretted the corporate capitalism he had profited from for years. As founder of Esprit and The North Face, he had “made things nobody needed.” Now, he declared, it was time to reverse the damage to the planet, and maybe even himself. 

In A Wild Idea, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jonathan Franklin tells the incredible true story of Douglas Tompkins, a rebellious CEO who became one of the primary founders of our modern conservation and land protection movement. Flying his small plane, Tompkins explored the uninhabited natural land of Patagonia and gaped at the singular beauty: active volcanoes, gliding condors, forests never logged, rivers never dammed—all so undisturbed, so exquisitely designed.

Could he protect this wild beauty? For the ensuing quarter century, that dream—that obsession—became his life. Only in death did it become his legacy.