 First edition cover as published by Crown Currency | |
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Business |
| Publisher | Crown Currency, Bloomsbury |
Publication date | October 28, 2025 |
The Seven Rules of Trust [a] is a book by Jimmy Wales written with Dan Gardner [3] published by Crown Currency and Bloomsbury on October 28, 2025.
Wales is an American and British entrepreneur who co-founded the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001. [4] [5] Dan Gardner is a Canadian academic who previously wrote the 2008 book Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear [6] and co-authored the 2015 book Superforecasting with Philip E. Tetlock. [7]
The Seven Rules of Trust has been characterized by Andrew Hill of the Financial Times as reading "like a manifesto" [3] where Wales presents his view on how the trust-based model of Wikipedia can be applied to address the problem of polarization in the United States [4] [5] or the world. For Wales, the solution to division in society lies in trust, for which he provides seven rules on how to build. [3] These rules serve as subheadings for each of the first seven chapters of the book. [8]
The book was released on October 28, 2025, by Crown Currency in the US and Bloomsbury in Commonwealth countries (excluding Canada). By April 2025, translation rights had been sold in 15 other territories. [9] In the lead-up to the book's release, Wales gave an interview with The New York Times where he discussed the book, the issue of culture war and how it has affected Wikipedia, and criticisms of the project. [4] [10] He also talked about the book in interviews with The Guardian, [11] Radio New Zealand, [12] Big Think, [13] Alabama Public Radio, [14] and BBC Science Focus. [15] On the day of publication, excerpts of the book were published as essays on the newspaper The Times [16] and the magazines Time [17] and Fortune . [18]
The Financial Times included The Seven Rules of Trust in its "Business books: What to read this month" list, although it described the final section of the book as "slightly rushed." [3] Kirkus Reviews commented that some of the rules provided in the book were not entirely original, but praised the book for its "invigorating plea for collaboration and respectful debate." [8]
