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The Curious Journey of Discovery’s John Hendricks The very private billionaire entrepreneur talks about his humble beginnings, launching Discovery and his latest passion, Gateway Canyons, a luxury one-stop adventure destination in Colorado. BY JOHN ARUNDEL | PHOTOS BY KEN REDDING
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aving traveled a long, often tortuous road from tapped out entrepreneur to billionaire media mogul, it is here in southwest Colorado at his beloved Gateway Canyons Resort where John Hendricks finds tranquility away from the quotidian battles and travails of network television. Hendricks, 61, offers a revealing look into the soul of a man with insatiable curiosity. He speaks with unflinching candor, almost proudly describing how many times he nearly failed with his starry-eyed notion of a global TV network that he pitched to his wife Maureen one morning 30 years ago over breakfast in their Greenbelt, Md. townhome. “What would you think,” he asked her, “about a new cable channel that just showed documentaries that are informative but entertaining, about science, nature and medicine?” She responded, “That would be awesome” Discovery founder John Handricks but then added, “If this is such a great idea, why didn’t Ted Turner do it?” and “Shark Week” on Discovery Channel, in Based in downtown Silver Spring, Discovery addition to feel-good TV through Discovery’s now transmits 150 networks to 1.8 billion partnership with OWN: Oprah Winfrey subscribers in 215 countries and territories Network. And who can forget the eight — in 45 different languages. seasons of “Dirty Jobs” which had everyman “I was absolutely convinced that I had the Mike Rowe climbing in and out of septic recipe for a world-class company,” Hendricks tanks, processing smelly seafood in a fish said last month in a rare interview. factory and collecting bat guano for prized The recipe for high ratings and commercial fertilizer? success lay in the richness of Discovery’s Hendricks grew up near hardscrabble programming, a quixotic mix of must-watch Hatfield Bottom, W. Va., where his father TV like “The Hunt for Bigfoot” on Animal was a home builder. He was raised with an Planet; “Beyond the Wormhole” with Morgan “overpowering sense of curiosity, puzzled by Freeman on Science Channel; shock TV like the magic and curious,” and seemed always “Hoarding” and “Best Funeral Ever” on TLC, inclined to “ask a million questions.”
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Such curiosity was further nurtured by his family’s move to Huntsville, Ala., where he marveled at the dawn of the rocket age forming at the center of America’s new space program. His family living room was often filled with NASA engineers discussing Apollo series rockets, satellites and Lunar Rovers. “I felt like I was the luckiest kid in the world.” Restlessness plus an abiding quest for entrepreneurship led him to the creation of Discovery. “I was 29 years old, had no experience in network television, and no wealthy investors,” he said. “How could I be so delusional as to think I could take on not only the well-funded new cable channels, but also the three giants of network TV?” In 1982, Hendricks founded Cable Educational Network Inc. in Bethesda. Nearly broke after three years of hard pitching his “impossible dream” of a global cable network, he finally landed $5 million in startup capital, and in 1985 the Discovery Channel was born. The early days were tight; he was late on payroll and payments for satellite time, and at one point became so desperate that he offered 40 percent of his new company to any taker for $6 million.That early investment would be worth $8 billion today. The scores of early non-believers can consider this: Discovery Communications now has 4,000 employees in 50 global offices, and is a publicly-traded company that brings in $4.2 billion per year in revenues, with a market value of $23 billion. Discovery is now worth more than any of the four U.S. broadcasting networks. “Like every entrepreneur, my passion for
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Home on the range: Nightfall at Gateway Canyons luxury adventure resort.
my new idea had no bounds,” said Hendricks, who just published his autobiography, “A Curious Discovery: An Entrepreneur’s Story” (Harper Collins), essentially a roadmap for entrepreneurs. These days many of his passions lie out West. He has launched a new venture at Gateway Canyons, a deluxe adventure resort he built in Gateway, Colo. He owns a sprawling ranch nearby and he and his family are frequent hikers through the nearby canyons. “As you stare up 2,500 feet of canyon walls to the top of the colossal red rock landform of the Palisade, a full 300 million years of the planet’s history is arrayed before you,” he said. “Here the planet seems to open up to tell its story.” He stores his $40 million of 50 rare cars at his Gateway Auto Museum where you can find long-vanished models such as Cunningham, Duesenberg, Auburn and Cord spit-shined to historic perfection. The rarest of all; a $3 million version of the “Mona Lisa” — the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Concept Car. Gateway Canyons is a mecca for adventure junkies. Guests waking up at the five-star resort and spa will not find a beach or golf course awaiting them, but something wholly different.
Driven Experiences offers car aficionados the opportunity to take Hendricks’ private collection of Jeeps, Mustangs and Bentleys out for a spin down Scenic Byway 141. Gateway Air Tours provides helicopter flyovers of the plunging canyons and lunar-like sandscape. The Adventure Center provides ATV tours of nearby dirt roads leading up to old mining shafts, rafting trips down the Dolores River and hikes up to Juanita Arch. It’s a luxurious one-stop adventure destination with Kayaking, hiking, rockclimbing, horseback riding, mountain bike riding, fishing, and snowshoeing, among other outdoor sports. High-octane fun is a family affair. His son Andrew, a professional sports car driver, runs Driven Experiences, a racing and automotive company based at Gateway Canyons. His daughter, Elizabeth Hendricks North, heads up their Curiosity Project. On any given day, Andrew might be leading guests on a back-road adventure while Elizabeth is customizing an excursion with Curiosity Adventures — expertly led, hands-on workshops and presentations by renowned scientists, geologists and historians. This spring, they will be launching Curiosity Retreats, a first-of-its-kind blend
“On any given day, Andrew might be leading guests on a backroad adventure while Elizabeth is customizing an excursion with Curiosity Adventures — expert-led workshops by renowned scientists, geologists and historians.”
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The Casita Room, one of many well-appointed accommodations at Gateway Canyons.
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of exclusive, intimate access to eminent visionaries, scholars and trendsetters. “It is really human nature to be curious,” Hendricks said. “Over millions of years of evolution, it is that same curiosity that has fueled invention, innovation and progress. What we’re doing here is harnessing that passion for personal exploration.”
Off-roading with Driven Experiences
Gateway Air Tours choppers.
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