Esprit and North Face founder dies in accident

Nature enthusiast and protector

Alongside 5 other people, Tompkins was kayaking in the General Carrera lake in Patagonia (Chile), when big waves tipped their boats. Although an army patrol boat saved everyone, Tompkins had succumbed to extreme hypothermia and died in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

He became wealthy when he founded the well-known clothing brands Esprit and North Face, but he was also famous for his love of nature and his desire to protect it. He used his funds to acquire large strips of land in countries like Argentina and Chile, land he then turned into wildlife reserves.

He was also a very active and adventurous person: “He flew planes and climbed mountains all across the world. That he died in a lake, basically swallowed by nature itself, is shocking”, his daughter, Summer Tompkins Walker, said.