Susie Tompkins Buell (née Russell; born 1943) is an American entrepreneur, businesswoman and a donor to progressive causes. Tompkins Buell co-founded the Esprit clothing and

The North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...

brand with her first husband,

Doug Tompkins Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (March 20, 1943 – December 8, 2015) was an American businessman, conservationist, outdoorsman, philanthropist, filmmaker, and agriculturalist. He co-founded the North Face Inc, Esprit and various environmental group ...

whom she met when she picked him up while he was hitchhiking. She is also noted for her close friendship with

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and her status as a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

mega-donor.

Early life

Susie Tompkins Buell was born Susan Russell in San Francisco in 1943, to parents Clarabelle and Floyd Russell. Her father was a "betting commissioner" and worked in real estate. In childhood, her family had a second home in

Bolinas Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...

, which had a profound impact on her love of the natural world. She attended primary school at the Convent School of the Sacred Heart,

Ojai Valley School Ojai Valley School is a co-educational independent boarding school in the Ojai Valley near the city of Ojai, California, United States. The school was founded in 1911 and offers pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade education. The motto of th ...

, and Miss Burke’s School. For high school, she attended Lowell High School in the class of 1960 but she did not graduate.

Career

Plain Jane

In 1968, Tompkins Buell and Jane Tise co-founded the Plain Jane clothing label. Initially Buell and Tise sold dresses to small clothing shops from the back of their Volkswagen van. Tompkins Buell's then-husband

, whom she had married in 1964 after the pair met while hitchhiking, joined the company to work on the business side and he put up funds to cover the cost of garment factory production. Plain Jane was making $2 million a year by 1970. Tompkins had recommended changing the name Plain Jane to Esprit de Corp.

Esprit de Corp

By 1986, the global clothing brand had reached $800 million in sales. The Tompkins divorced in 1989. In 1990, Tompkins Buell led a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loan ...

that gained her control of the company, and netted her an estimated $150 million. Esprit emerged from the buyout so deeply in debt that in less than two years it went into technical default on its outstanding loans. In 1997, CEO Jay Margolis banned Tompkins Buell and all members of her family from entering Esprit's headquarters. Also in 1997, Tompkins Buell filed a lawsuit against Esprit, seeking about $4 million in reimbursements from the company for tax payments she made after selling much of her stake in the company to investors.

Democratic Party and activism

Tompkins Buell is often described as

's soul mate. She led Clinton's fundraising efforts for 2008 in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Bay area. In 2006, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' published a story about the

Democracy Alliance The Democracy Alliance is a network of progressive donors who coordinate their political donations to groups that the Alliance has endorsed. It has been described by ''Politico'' as "the country's most powerful liberal donor club". Members of th ...

, calling it an "exclusive donor club" for progressive donors and identifying Tompkins Buell and her husband Mark Buell as members. Tompkins Buell held a fundraiser for

David Brock David Brock (born July 23, 1962) is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by ''Time'' as "one of the most influential operatives in ...

Media Matters Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Res ...

at her San Francisco home. A foundation that bears her name gave money to Media Matters through the

Tides Foundation Tides Foundation is an American public charity and fiscal sponsor working to advance progressive causes and policy initiatives in areas such as the environment, health care, labor issues, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights and human ...

. Buell along with

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

and other Democracy Alliance members

John R. Hunting John R. Hunting (born November 7, 1931) is a philanthropist who is the son of David D. Hunting, founder of Steelcase, an office furniture manufacture based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2006 he was noted as a major contributor to liberal or progr ...

; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics);

Pat Stryker Patricia A. Stryker (born 1956/1957) is an American billionaire businessperson, philanthropist, and political activist. Stryker is the granddaughter of Homer Stryker, founder of Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company. Since the early ...

;

Nicholas Hanauer Nicolas Joseph Hanauer (born September 2, 1959) is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Business career Hanauer was born to a secular Jewish family in New York City and raised in Bellevue, Washington. His brother is Adrian Hanauer, ...

; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein;

Drummond Pike Drummond MacGavin Pike (born October 11, 1948) is an American philanthropist and Progressivism in the United States, progressive political activist. He founded the Tides Foundation in 1976 and served as its president until 2010. He currently serve ...

; real estate developer Robert Bowditch;

Pioneer Hybrid International Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. is a U.S.-based producer of seeds for agriculture. They are a major producer of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including genetically modified crops with insect and herbicide resistance. As of 2019, Pi ...

-heir and congressional candidate Scott Wallace;

Gail Furman Gail Furman was an American psychologist and political donor. Furman was President of the Furman Foundation, Inc. The foundation is a major donor to the Tides Center and the Media Matters for America, a left-leaning center for journalism founded b ...

; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; and

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

-heir Rob McKay, funded the

Secretary of State Project Formed in the fall of 2006 by Becky Bond, Michael Kieschnick and James Rucker,

, an American non-profit, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process. The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of State

Debra Bowen Debra Lynn Bowen (born October 27, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Secretary of State of California from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 200 ...

and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie re-elected. In February 2012, Tompkins Buell stopped supporting President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, citing disappointment with his leadership on environmental issues including climate change. In 2016, Tompkins Buell donated $500,000 to lawyer

Lisa Bloom Lisa Read Bloom ( née Bray; born September 20, 1961) is an American attorney known for advising Harvey Weinstein amid various sexual abuse allegations, and for representing women whose sexual harassment claims precipitated the firing of Bill ...

's firm in order to assist women who came forward with sexual harassment and assault allegations against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

References

External links

Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins Buell, Susie American company founders American women company founders American chief executives of fashion industry companies American fashion designers American women fashion designers American political fundraisers American women business executives American business executives Philanthropists from California 1943 births Living people California Democrats California people in fashion Businesspeople from San Francisco People from Bolinas, California American women chief executives 21st-century American women