More than twenty years ago, Jimmy Wales changed the world when he founded Wikipedia, an open platform built on collaboration and trust. At the time, few realized how revolutionary it would become. Today, Wikipedia’s English pages alone receive over 11 billion views each month, making it one of the most visited and trusted sources of information on the internet.
In an age often called the “post-truth era,” where misinformation spreads rapidly online, Jimmy Wales is turning his attention to a key question, how can we rebuild trust? Together with author Dan Gardner, he explores this idea in their new book, The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last, published on October 28, 2025 by Crown Currency in the U.S. and Bloomsbury in Commonwealth countries.
The book uses the story of Wikipedia’s creation as a living example of how strangers across the world built something reliable by learning to trust one another. Wales and Gardner argue that trust is not just a value, it’s a “living thing” that must be nurtured and protected.
According to early reviews on Goodreads, the book highlights seven key principles drawn from Wikipedia’s culture, principles such as transparency, accountability, collaboration, and shared purpose. These lessons, the authors say, can help anyone build stronger relationships in business, leadership, and everyday life.
Wales explains that Wikipedia succeeded because it created a positive loop of accountability and creativity, where people felt both free to contribute and responsible for honesty. This culture, he believes, can inspire leaders and organizations everywhere to build systems that last.
Jimmy Wales, known as the founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, has long been recognized as one of the Time 100 Most Influential People. His co-author, Dan Gardner, is a respected journalist and the co-author of the bestseller Super-forecasting, known for his work on risk and prediction.
Their book is both a reflection on Wikipedia’s legacy and a practical guide for a world that urgently needs more trust, truth, and collaboration.
