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December 10, 2015

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North Face founder dies in Chile accident

American billionaire Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of The North Face outdoor clothing brand, has died of hypothermia after his kayak capsized in a near-freezing lake in Chile鈥檚 Patagonia region, the government said.

A prominent conservationist and philanthropist, the 72-year-old was kayaking with four other Americans and a Mexican on Lake Carrera in southern Chile, the health department of Chile鈥檚 Aysen region said.

Violent winds whipped up waves that tossed them all into the cold water, it said.

When rescued with the rest of the group by a Chilean navy ship, Tompkins鈥 body temperature was 19 degrees Celsius, the regional health department said. He was flown by private helicopter to the hospital in the town of Coyhaique where he died on Tuesday.

Tompkins founded the American outdoor clothing and camping label The North Face in 1964 with a partner. Four years later he helped his first wife, Susie Tompkins Buell, establish the clothing brand Esprit and grow it into a big business before their divorce in 1989.

After selling his stakes in The North Face and Esprit for a fortune, Tompkins retired to Chile in 1990.


 

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