“Long before Wikipedia became the biggest collection of knowledge in the history of the world, before Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia ever, it had to overcome its greatest challenge: Wikipedia had to get strangers on the Internet to talk and cooperate. To do that, those strangers had to trust each other.”
This is a book about trust.
And right now, in our world, it’s in short supply.
Coming October 28th, 2025
U.S. Edition
UK Edition
A Blueprint for Building Things That Last
A new book from the founder of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust is a sweeping reflection on the global crisis of credibility and knowledge, revealing the principles that transformed Wikipedia from a scrappy experiment into a global utility used by billions of people—and how those rules can help others build things that last.
From the beginning, people predicted Wikipedia’s demise. Instead, this global experiment in sharing knowledge and expertise online has become part of the fabric of modern, connected life. Today, every month, people view Wikipedia 11 billion times—just in the English language. The Internet’s encyclopedia has become a global utility, like water or electricity, and we rarely pause to consider the extraordinary fact of its existence.
Long before it became the biggest collection of knowledge in the history of the world, Wikipedia had to overcome its greatest challenge: getting strangers on the Internet to trust each other. They had to trust that others would not be abusive or uncivil. They had to trust that others would not unfairly change or erase their contributions. They had to trust that people had good intentions.
Trust, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says, is a treasure. But it is not inanimate, like gold or gems. Trust is a living thing that can and must be cultivated. This book will show you how. And it will reveal how his organization, this one-time punchline, has become a global authority—in the same two decades when the public’s trust in everything else, from government to social media, has trended backwards.
Every community on earth depends on trust; it underpins our capacity to know things, and it is at an all-time low. Inspiring, approachable, and packed with candid lessons from the early days of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust is a guide to kickstarting a positive loop of accountability and creativity—and to building things that stand the test of time.
Praise
“This is an important book, which is both hopeful and practical. Using lessons from the astounding success of Wikipedia, it advises readers how to tackle the global crisis of trust. If only the whole world could look like Wikipedia!”
—Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“Wikipedia is a remarkable invention. Powered by human trust, this once quixotic project thrived where so many others failed, becoming one of the greatest collections of knowledge in the world. With this book, Jimmy is passing on the principles that drove Wikipedia’s success so that others can build meaningful projects of their own. The result is a powerful, essential book that cuts to the heart of how technology can benefit humanity.”
—Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and bestselling author of Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
“Trust is a feeling. We can’t ‘convince’ someone to trust, they have to feel it. Sadly, we now live in a world in which it’s often hard to know who or what we can trust. Where some of the biggest online companies are trying to allow for public regulation of their content, only to significantly harm their trustworthiness, Wikipedia is the exception. What does Wikipedia know that others don’t and how can more companies adopt their practices to make our digital world safer and, well, more trustworthy? Thank you to Jimmy Wales for founding Wikipedia and now, for the first time, telling us how he did it!”
—Simon Sinek, New York Times bestselling author of Start with Why and The Infinite Game, and host of the podcast “A Bit of Optimism”
“Everything in our thrilling and chilling future depends on one increasingly diminishing human resource: trust. Jimmy Wales is in a better position than almost anyone to teach the world the most important lessons required for us to learn if we want to win trust back, in our own lives and out into the community and the wider world. He eloquently and convincingly demonstrates in this important—indeed vital—book that it can be done, and that it starts with us. Fascinating to read, intriguing to learn and wonderful to contemplate—The Seven Rules of Trust should be required reading everywhere.”
—Stephen Fry, actor, broadcaster, and bestselling author
Jimmy Wales
Dan Gardner
Dan Gardner
Co-writer Dan Gardner is a New York Times-bestselling author, speaker, and consultant.
Contact
For U.S. media inquiries, please contact:
Tara Gilbride, Penguin Random House: tgilbride@prh.com
For UK media inquiries, please contact:
Hayley Camis, Bloomsbury: hayley.camis@bloomsbury.com
Stay in Touch
By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
