Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is an American
Internet entrepreneurAn Internet entrepreneur is an entrepreneur that engages in business on the Internet.Internet entrepreneurs are part of the more general category of digital entrepreneurs...
and a co-founder and promoter of
WikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau of the words wiki and encyclopedia...
. •
Wales was born in
Huntsville, AlabamaHuntsville is a city, centrally located in the northern most part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located in Madison county and extends west into neighboring Limestone county. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison county, and the fourth largest city in Alabama. The 2000 census estimated...
. He attended a small private school, a
university preparatory schoolA university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education. Some schools will also include a junior, or elementary, school...
, and then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in finance. While in graduate school, he taught at two universities. Wales later took a job in finance, and worked as the research director of a Chicago futures and options firm for several years. In 1996, he and two partners founded
BomisBomis is a dot-com company founded in 1996. Its primary business is the sale of advertising on the Bomis.com search portal. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and Tim Shell, and provided support for the free encyclopedia projects Nupedia and Wikipedia...
, a web portal that targeted males, and which hosted, and provided the initial funding for, the peer-reviewed encyclopedia
NupediaNupedia was an English-language Web-based encyclopedia whose articles were written by experts and licensed as free content. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and underwritten by Bomis, with Larry Sanger as editor-in-chief...
(2000 – 2003) and for its successor, Wikipedia.
In 2001, together with
Larry SangerLawrence Mark "Larry" Sanger is an American philosopher, co-founder of Wikipedia, and the creator of the encyclopedia Citizendium....
and others, Wales helped launch Wikipedia, a free,
open-contentOpen content, a neologism coined by analogy with "open source", describes any kind of creative work, or content, published in a format that explicitly allows copying and modifying of its information by anyone, not exclusively by a closed organization, firm or individual...
encyclopedia which subsequently enjoyed rapid growth and popularity.
c "Wales focused on the bottom-up strategy using Web rings, and it worked. Bomis users built hundreds of rings—on cars, computers, sports, and especially 'babes' (e.g., the Anna Kournikova Web ring), effectively creating an index of the 'laddie' Web. Instead of helping all users find all content, Bomis found itself positioned as the Playboy of the Internet, helping guys find guy stuff."
d e f "The wiki [technology] quickly gained a devoted following within the software community. And there it remained until January 2001, when Sanger had dinner with an old friend named Ben Kovitz. [...] Over tacos that night, Sanger explained his concerns about Nupedia’s lack of progress, the root cause of which was its serial editorial system. [...] Kovitz brought up the wiki and sketched out 'wiki magic,' the mysterious process by which communities with common interests work to improve wiki pages by incremental contributions. If it worked for the rambunctious hacker culture of programming, Kovitz said, it could work for any online collaborative project. The wiki could break the Nupedia bottleneck by permitting volunteers to work simultaneously all over the project." As Wikipedia's public profile grew, Wales became the project's promoter and
spokesmanA spokesman or spokesperson is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and public affairs in...
. Wales is historically cited as the co-founder of Wikipedia, though he has disputed the "co-" designation in declaring himself the sole founder. He serves on the
Board of TrusteesTrustee is a legal term for a holder of property on behalf of a beneficiary. A trust can be set up either to benefit particular persons, or for any charitable purposes : typical examples are a will trust for the testator's children and family, a pension trust , and a charitable trust...
of the
Wikimedia FoundationThe Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
, the non-profit charitable organization which operates Wikipedia. He holds its board-appointed "community founder" seat. In 2004, he co-founded
WikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis which targets communities, both those established offline and those with a purely online following...
, a privately-owned, free Web-hosting service, with fellow Wikimedia trustee Angela Beesley.
Wales has been married twice and has a daughter with Christine, his second wife, from whom he is separated. He describes himself as an
ObjectivistObjectivism is the philosophy developed by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand. Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness; that individual persons are in direct contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective...
and, with reservations, a libertarian. His role in creating Wikipedia, which has become the world's largest encyclopedia, prompted
TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine to name him in its 2006 list of the world's most influential people. Wales is the
de facto leader of Wikipedia; his exact position on the project is a matter of public and press debate.
Early life and education
Wales was born in
Huntsville, AlabamaHuntsville is a city, centrally located in the northern most part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located in Madison county and extends west into neighboring Limestone county. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison county, and the fourth largest city in Alabama. The 2000 census estimated...
, in the United States. Sources differ about whether he was born on August 7 or 8, 1966. According to his 1997 marriage certificate (to Christine Rohan) and some other sources he was born on August 7, though on his driver's license his birthday is given as August 8. His father, Jimmy, worked as a grocery store manager while his mother, Doris, and his grandmother, Erma, ran the House of Learning, a small private school in the tradition of the
one-room schoolOne-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
house, where Wales and his three siblings received their early education. As a child, Wales was a keen reader with an acute intellectual curiosity, and, in what he credits to the influence of the
Montessori methodThe Montessori method is a child-centered, alternative educational method based on the child development theories originated by Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
on the school's philosophy of education, "spent lots of hours pouring over the
Britannicas and
World Book Encyclopedias". There were only four other children in Wales' grade, so the school grouped together the first through fourth grade students and the fifth through eighth grade students. Wales is sharply critical of the government's treatment of the school, citing the "constant interference and bureaucracy and very sort of snobby inspectors from the state" as a formative influence on his political philosophy.
After eighth grade, Wales attended
Randolph SchoolRandolph School is an American independent private kindergarten-through-12th-grade college preparatory school chartered in 1959 in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama. It started in an antebellum home on Randolph Street with just a few elementary classes...
, a university-preparatory school in Huntsville, graduating at sixteen. Wales has said that the school was expensive for his family, but that "Education was always a passion in my household ... you know, the very traditional approach to knowledge and learning and establishing that as a base for a good life." He received his bachelor's degree in finance from
Auburn UniversityAuburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. With more than 24,100 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school...
(notable for its free market economists) and entered the
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
finance program at the
University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System. Within Alabama, it is often called "the Capstone"...
before leaving with a master's degree to enter the Ph.D. finance program at
Indiana UniversityIndiana University is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. It is also known as Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana, or simply IU, and is located in Bloomington, Indiana....
. He taught at both universities during his postgraduate studies, but did not write the doctoral dissertation required for a Ph.D., something which he has ascribed to boredom.
Chicago Options Associates and Bomis
In 1994, rather than writing his doctoral dissertation, Wales took a job with Chicago Options Associates, a
futuresFutures contract, in finance, refers to a standardized contract to buy or sell a specified commodity of standardized quality at a certain date in the future, at a market determined price . The contracts are traded on a futures exchange. Futures contracts are not "direct" securities like stocks,...
and
optionsIn finance, an option is a contract between a buyer and a seller that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or to sell a particular asset on or before the option's expiration time, at an agreed price, the strike price. In return for granting the option, the seller collects a...
trading firm in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
, Illinois. By "speculating on interest rate and foreign-currency fluctuations," he had soon earned enough to "support himself and his wife for the rest of their lives," according to Daniel Pink of
WiredWired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since March 1993, that reports on how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
. Wales had been addicted to the Internet from an early stage and used to write computer code as a pastime. During his studies in Alabama, he had become an obsessive player of Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs)—a type of virtual
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines...
—and thereby experienced the potential of computer networks to foster large-scale collaborative projects.
Inspired by the remarkable
initial public offeringAn initial public stock offering referred to simply as an "offering" or "flotation," is when a company issues common stock or shares to the public for the first time...
of
NetscapeNetscape Communications was a US computer services company, best known for its web browser. The browser was once dominant in terms of usage share, but lost most of that share to Internet Explorer during the first browser war...
in 1995, he decided to become an internet entrepreneur, and in 1996 founded the web portal
BomisBomis is a dot-com company founded in 1996. Its primary business is the sale of advertising on the Bomis.com search portal. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and Tim Shell, and provided support for the free encyclopedia projects Nupedia and Wikipedia...
with two partners. The website featured
user-generatedUser-generated content , also known as consumer-generated media or user-created content , refers to various kinds of media content, publicly available, that are produced by end-users....
webringA webring in general is a collection of websites from around the Internet joined together in a circular structure. When used to improve search engine rankings, webrings can be considered a search engine optimization technique....
s and that, according to
The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded as The Atlantic Monthly in Boston in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. Though based in Boston, it quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and...
, "found itself positioned as the
Playboy of the Internet." For a time the company sold erotic photographs, and Wales described the site as a "guy-oriented search engine" with a market similar to
MaximMaxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, none of whom are nude in the American version....
s. Bomis did not become successful, but in March 2000 hosted and provided the initial funding for the
NupediaNupedia was an English-language Web-based encyclopedia whose articles were written by experts and licensed as free content. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and underwritten by Bomis, with Larry Sanger as editor-in-chief...
project.
Nupedia and the origins of Wikipedia
Though Bomis had struggled to make money, it provided Wales with the funding to pursue his greater passion, an online
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
. While moderating an online discussion group devoted to the philosophy of
ObjectivismObjectivism is the philosophy developed by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand. Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness; that individual persons are in direct contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective...
in the early 1990s, Wales had encountered
Larry SangerLawrence Mark "Larry" Sanger is an American philosopher, co-founder of Wikipedia, and the creator of the encyclopedia Citizendium....
, a sceptic of the philosophy. The two had engaged in detailed debate on the subject on Wales' list and then on Sanger's, eventually meeting offline to continue the debate and becoming friends. Deciding to pursue his encyclopedia project years later, Wales invited Sanger—who at that time was a doctoral student in philosophy at
Ohio State UniversityOhio State University is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the largest single-campus university in the United States. Ohio State is currently ranked by U.S...
—to be its
editor-in-chiefAn editor in chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. The term is generally applied to newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and television news programs...
, and in March 2000, Nupedia ("the free encyclopedia"), a peer-reviewed,
open-contentOpen content, a neologism coined by analogy with "open source", describes any kind of creative work, or content, published in a format that explicitly allows copying and modifying of its information by anyone, not exclusively by a closed organization, firm or individual...
encyclopedia, was launched. The intent behind Nupedia was to have expert-written entries on a variety of topics, and to sell advertising alongside the entries in order to make profit. The project was characterized by an extensive peer-review process designed to make its articles of a quality comparable to that of professional encyclopedias.
In January 2001, Sanger was introduced to the concept of a
wikiA wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser...
by extreme programming enthusiast Ben Kovitz after explaining to Kovitz the slow pace of growth Nupedia endured as a result of its onerous submission process. Kovitz suggested that adopting the wiki model would allow editors to contribute simultaneously and incrementally throughout the project, thus breaking Nupedia's bottleneck. Sanger was excited about the idea, and after proposing it to Wales, they created the first Nupedia wiki on January 10, 2001. The wiki was initially intended as a collaborative project for the public to write articles that would then be reviewed for publication by Nupedia's expert volunteers. The majority of Nupedia's experts, however, wanted nothing to do with this project, fearing that mixing amateur content with professionally researched and edited material would compromise the integrity of Nupedia's information and damage the credibility of the encyclopedia. Thus the wiki project, dubbed "Wikipedia" by Sanger, went live at a separate
domainA domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System ....
five days after its creation.
Early development
Neither Sanger nor Wales expected very much from the Wikipedia initiative. Wales, anticipating "complete rubbish", hoped that if they were lucky, Wikipedia might yield a couple of rough draft entries for Nupedia. To the surprise of Sanger and Wales, within a few days of launching the number of articles on Wikipedia had outgrown that of Nupedia, and a small collective of editors had formed. Many of the early contributors to the site were familiar with the model of the
free culture movementThe free culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works, using the Internet as well as other media....
, and, like Wales, many of them sympathized with the open-source movement. Wales has said that he was initially so worried with the concept of open editing that he would awake during the night and monitor what was being added. In spite of this, the cadre of early editors created the robust, self-regulating community that proved so conducive to the growth of the encyclopedia.
Sanger developed Wikipedia in its early phase and guided the project. The broader idea he ascribes to Wales, remarking in a 2005 memoir for
SlashdotSlashdot, sometimes abbreviated as /., is a technology-related news website owned by SourceForge, Inc. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated current affairs news with a "nerdy" slant. Each story on the site has an Internet forum-style comments section attached...
that "the idea of an open source, collaborative encyclopedia, open to contribution by ordinary people, was entirely Jimmy's, not mine, and the funding was entirely by Bomis", adding, "[t]he actual development of this encyclopedia was the task he gave me to work on." Sanger worked on and promoted both the Nupedia and Wikipedia projects until Bomis discontinued funding for his position in February 2002; Sanger resigned as editor-in-chief of Nupedia and as "chief organizer" of Wikipedia on March 1 of that year. In the early years, Wales had supplied the financial backing for the project, and entertained the notion of placing advertisements on Wikipedia before costs were reduced with Sanger's departure and plans for a nonprofit foundation were advanced instead.
Controversy
Wales has asserted that he is the sole founder of Wikipedia, and has publicly disputed Sanger's designation as a co-founder. Sanger and Wales were identified as co-founders at least as early as September 2001 by
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
and as founders in Wikipedia's first press release in January 2002. In August of that year, Wales identified himself as "co-founder" of Wikipedia. Sanger assembled on his personal webpage an assortment of links that appear to confirm the status of Sanger and Wales as co-founders. For example, Sanger and Wales are historically cited in early news citations and press releases as co-founders. Wales was quoted by
The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993. Its chief print rival is the Boston Herald....
as calling Sanger's claim as "preposterous" in February 2006, and called "the whole debate silly" in an April 2009 interview.
In late 2005, Wales edited his own
biographicalA biography is a description or account of someone's life and the times, which is usually published in the form of a book or essay, or in some other form, such as a film. An autobiography is a biography of a person's life written or told by that same person...
entry on the
English WikipediaThe English Wikipedia is the English language edition of the free online Encyclopedia Wikipedia. Founded on 15 January 2001 and reaching three million articles by August 2009, it was the first edition of Wikipedia and remains the largest, with more than three times as many articles as the next...
. Writer
Rogers CadenheadRogers Cadenhead is a computer book author and web publisher who is currently chairman of the RSS Advisory Board, a group that assists developers in using the RSS 2.0 specification. He graduated from the University of North Texas in 1991 and Lloyd V...
drew attention to logs showing that in his edits to the page, Wales had removed references to Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia. Sanger commented that "having seen edits like this, it does seem that Jimmy is attempting to rewrite history. But this is a futile process because in our brave new world of transparent activity and maximum communication, the truth will out." Wales was also observed to have modified references to
BomisBomis is a dot-com company founded in 1996. Its primary business is the sale of advertising on the Bomis.com search portal. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and Tim Shell, and provided support for the free encyclopedia projects Nupedia and Wikipedia...
in a way that was characterized as downplaying the sexual nature of some of his former company's products. Though Wales argued that his modifications were solely intended to improve the accuracy of the content, he apologized for editing his own biography, a practice generally frowned upon at Wikipedia.
Role
In a 2004 interview with
SlashdotSlashdot, sometimes abbreviated as /., is a technology-related news website owned by SourceForge, Inc. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated current affairs news with a "nerdy" slant. Each story on the site has an Internet forum-style comments section attached...
, Wales outlined his vision for Wikipedia: "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing." The growth and prominence of Wikipedia made Wales an
Internet celebrityAn Internet celebrity, cyberstar or online celebrity is someone who has become famous by means of the Internet. Such fame is based less upon raw numbers, as with traditional media. Instead, the wide reach of the Internet allows people to reach a narrow audience across the world and so become famous...
. Though he had never traveled farther than Canada and Mexico prior to founding the site, Wikipedia saw him flying internationally on a near-constant basis as the public face of the project.
Wales' unpaid role in the Wikipedia community has been characterized as benevolent dictator, constitutional monarch and
spiritual leaderSpiritual leader is a form of title that is used to refer to religious leaders.In Buddhism, spiritual leaders are usually the people who have attained high level of spiritual awareness. Those spiritual teachers can guide people on their path toward spiritual awakening.Spiritual Leader may be a...
. He is also the closest the project has to a spokesman. Despite his non-intensive involvement in the day-to-day operation of the encyclopedia, Wales has denied intending to reduce his role, telling
The New York Times in 2008 that "Dialing down is not an option for me ... Not to be too dramatic about it, but, ‘to create and distribute a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single person on the planet in their own language,’ that’s who I am. That’s what I am doing. That’s my life goal."
Wikimedia Foundation
In mid-2003, Wales set up the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), a
non-profit organizationA nonprofit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals . Examples of NPOs include charities , trade unions, and public arts organizations...
founded in
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2006, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 248,098. The 2007...
, and based in
San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
. All intellectual property rights and domain names pertaining to Wikipedia were moved to the new foundation, whose purpose is to establish general policy for the encyclopedia and its sister projects. Originally its chairman, and an initial member of the Board of Trustees, Wales has held the honorary title of Chairman
EmeritusEmeritus is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop, or other professional. Emerita is often used as the female equivalent, although avoided by purists, since phrases such as professor emerita are ungrammatical in Latin...
of the foundation since 2006. His work for the foundation, including his appearances to promote it at computer and educational conferences, has always been unpaid. In a 2007 interview, Wales stated that he thought that "donating" Wikipedia to the foundation was both the "dumbest and the smartest" thing he'd done. On the one hand, he estimated that Wikipedia was worth US$3 billion; on the other, he weighed his belief that its donation made possible his success.
In March 2008, Wales was accused by former Wikimedia Foundation employee Danny Wool of misusing the foundation's funds for recreational purposes. Wool also stated that Wales had his Wikimedia credit card taken away in part because of his spending habits, a claim Wales denied. Then-chairperson of the foundation
Florence DevouardFlorence Jacqueline Sylvie Devouard, née Nibart was the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation between October 2006 and July 2008, succeeding Jimmy Wales....
and former foundation interim Executive Director Brad Patrick denied any wrongdoing by Wales or the foundation, saying that Wales accounted for every expense and that, for items for which he lacked receipts, he paid out of his own pocket. Later in March 2008, it was alleged by
Jeffrey Vernon MerkeyJeffrey Vernon Merkey is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur. After working as a chief scientist for Novell, Merkey left to create his own company, Wolf Mountain Group, to develop a set of clustering technologies...
that Wales had edited Merkey's Wikipedia entry to make it more favorable in return for donations to the Wikimedia Foundation, an allegation Wales dismissed as "nonsense."
Wikia
In 2004, Wales and then-fellow member of the WMF Board of Trustees Angela Beesley founded the for-profit company Wikia, Inc. Wikia is a wiki farm—a collection of individual
wikiA wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser...
s on different subjects, all hosted on the same website. It hosts some of the largest wikis outside Wikipedia, including
Memory AlphaMemory Alpha is a wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe. Conceived by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson in September 2003 and officially launched on December 5 of that year, it uses the wiki model and is hosted by Wikia, Inc. on the MediaWiki...
(devoted to
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.The original Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation...
), Battlestar Wiki (
Battlestar GalacticaBattlestar Galactica is a military science fiction serial drama television series and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was created by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the Battlestar Galactica television series from 1978 created by Glen A. Larson...
) and
WookieepediaWookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki is an online encyclopedia for information on the Star Wars fictional universe—including information on all six films, as well as The Clone Wars and the Expanded Universe. It is a more specialized and useful wiki created to be an extensive encyclopedia of the...
(
Star WarsStar Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two immediate sequels, released at three-year intervals...
). Another service offered by Wikia was
Wikia SearchWikia Search was a free and open-source Web search engine and a part of Wikia operated by Wikia, Inc., a for-profit company founded in late 2004 by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley. The "public alpha" was launched on January 7, 2008...
, an
open sourceOpen source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations...
web search engineA web search engine is a tool designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data...
intended to challenge
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. Google has also...
and introduce transparency and public dialogue about how it's created into the search engine's operations, but the project was abandoned in March 2009. Wales stepped down as Wikia
CEOA chief executive officer or chief executive is one of the highest-ranking corporate officers or administrators in charge of total management...
to be replaced by
angel investorAn angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
Gil PenchinaGil Penchina is currently CEO of Wikia Inc. He was formerly vice president and general manager, international at eBay.He attended the Kellogg School of Management and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.-External links:...
, a former vice president and
general managerGeneral manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
at
eBayeBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. A majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include...
, on June 5, 2006. Penchina declared Wikia to have reached profitability in September 2009.
In addition to his role at Wikia, Wales is a public speaker represented by the Harry Walker Agency, which characterizes him as "the founder" of Wikipedia.
Philosophy
Wales is a self-avowed "Objectivist to the core";
ObjectivismObjectivism is the philosophy developed by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand. Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness; that individual persons are in direct contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective...
being a rationalist and individualist philosophy developed by writer
Ayn RandAyn Rand , was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her best-selling novels and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
in the 20th century. Wales first encountered the philosophy through reading Rand's novel
The FountainheadThe Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand. It was Rand's first major literary success and its royalties and movie rights brought her fame and financial security....
while an undergraduate, and in 1992 founded an electronic mailing list devoted to "Moderated Discussion of Objectivist Philosophy". Though he has stated that the philosophy "colours everything I do and think", he has said "I think I do a better job—than a lot of people who self-identify as Objectivists—of not pushing my point of view on other people." When asked about Rand's influence by
Brian LambBrian Patrick Lamb is the founder and chief executive officer of C-SPAN, a television network dedicated to coverage of government proceedings and public affairs. Born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana, Lamb earned a degree from Purdue University before joining the United States Navy...
in his appearance on
C-SPANC-SPAN , an abbreviation of Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming...
's
Q&AThis article is for the American cable television show Q&A, for the Australian television show Q&A, see Q&AQ&A is a weekly television program that airs Sunday nights on C-SPAN, and is hosted by Brian Lamb...
in September 2005, Wales cited
integrityIntegrity as a concept has to do with perceived consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcome. People use integrity as a holistic concept, judging the integrity of systems in terms of those systems' ability to achieve their own goals...
and "the virtue of independence" as important to him personally. When asked if he could trace "the Ayn Rand connection" to having a political philosophy at the time of the interview, Wales reluctantly labeled himself a
libertarianLibertarianism is a term adopted by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which advocate the maximization of individual liberty and the minimization or even abolition of the state...
, qualifying his remark by referring to the United States
Libertarian PartyThe Libertarian Party is a United States political party founded on December 11, 1971.In the 30 states where voters can register by party there are over 200,000 voters registered with the Libertarian Party, making it one of the largest of America's alternative political parties...
as "lunatics" and citing "freedom, liberty, basically individual rights, that idea of dealing with other people in a matter that is not initiating force against them" as his guiding principles. An interview with Wales served as the cover feature of the June 2007 issue of the libertarian magazine
ReasonReason is a libertarian monthly magazine from the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and has twice been named one of the "50 best magazines" by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
. He rejects the notion that his mission in promoting Wikipedia is altruistic, which he defines as "sacrificing your own values for others", stating "[t]hat participating in a benevolent effort to share information is somehow destroying your own values makes no sense to me".
Wales cites
Austrian SchoolThe Austrian School is a school of economic thought that emphasizes the spontaneous organizing power of the price mechanism or price system...
economist Friedrich von Hayek's essay "
The Use of Knowledge in Society"The Use of Knowledge in Society" is a scholarly article written by renowned Austrian-school economist Friedrich Hayek, first published in the September 1945 issue of The American Economic Review. Written as a rebuttal to fellow economist Oskar R...
", which he read as an undergraduate, as "central" to his thinking about "how to manage the Wikipedia project". Hayek argued that information is decentralised – that each individual only knows a small fraction of what is known collectively – and that as a result, decisions are best made by those with local knowledge rather than by a central authority. Wales reconsidered the essay in the 1990s, while reading about the open source movement (which advocated that software be
freeFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also...
and distributed). He was moved in particular by "
The Cathedral and the BazaarThe Cathedral and the Bazaar is an essay by Eric S. Raymond on software engineering methods, based on his observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experiences managing an open source project, fetchmail...
", an essay and later book by one of the founders of the movement,
Eric S. RaymondEric Steven Raymond , often referred to as ESR, is a computer programmer, author and open source software advocate. His name became known within the hacker culture when he was self-appointed maintainer of the "Jargon File" since 1990...
, which "opened [his] eyes to the possibilities of mass collaboration".
Personal life
Wales' first wife, Pam, was quoted in a September 2008
W magazineW is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and thirteen inches tall. Patrick McCarthy is its chairman and editorial director. McCarthy has previously worked for Women's Wear Daily, the sister publication...
article as saying that Wales discouraged her from pursuing a nursing degree when they were married, out of a belief that
altruismAltruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Sikhism, and many others. Also, altruism is a key aspect of many...
was evil: "His whole 'Mr. Save the World' is so contrary to what he said every day for seven years." She also remarked on his high ambition, relating that he had been determined to become a millionaire before the age of 40. Wales met his second wife, Christine Rohan, through a friend in Chicago while she was working as a steel trader for
MitsubishiThe , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese conglomerate consisting of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
. The couple were married in Monroe County, Florida in March 1997, and had a daughter named Kira before separating. Wales moved to San Diego in 1998, and after being dissuaded by the housing market there, relocated in 2002 to
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2006, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 248,098. The 2007...
, where he has remained .
Wales had a brief
relationshipAn intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship. It is a relationship in which the participants know or trust one another very well or are confidants of one another, or a relationship in which there is physical or emotional intimacy.Intimate relationships play a central...
with Canadian conservative columnist
Rachel MarsdenRachel Marsden is a Canadian conservative political columnist, strategist and television commentator based in New York City. In the 2000s, she was a columnist for publications such as The Washington Times, National Post, Toronto Sun and the New York Post...
in 2008 that began after Marsden contacted Wales about her Wikipedia biography. After accusations that Wales' relationship constituted a
conflict of interestA conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other.A conflict of interest can only existif a person or testimony...
, Wales announced in March 2008 on his Wikipedia user page (and later on his personal blog) that there had been a relationship but that it was over and claimed that it had not influenced any matters on Wikipedia. Marsden stated that Wales ended the relationship "via an announcement on Wikipedia".
Honors, awards and positions
- Mid-2005 — Wales is appointed as a member of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues, but as of May 15, 2008 the Center was elevated to an interfaculty...
at Harvard Law School.
- October 3, 2005 — Wales joins the Board of Directors of Socialtext
Socialtext Incorporated is a company based in Palo Alto, California that produces enterprise social software, including a wiki-centric software platform by the same name. It is run by CEO Eugene Lee and President and co-founder Ross Mayfield...
, a provider of wiki technology to businesses.
- 2006 — Wales joins the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses...
.
- May 8, 2006 — Wales is listed in the "Scientists & Thinkers" section of the 100 influential people
The Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
special edition of TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine.
- June 3, 2006 — Wales receives an honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements...
of doctor of laws from Knox College.
- May 3, 2006 — The Electronic Frontier Foundation awards him a Pioneer Award
The EFF Pioneer Award is an annual prize for people who have made significant contributions to the empowerment of individuals in using computers. Until 1998 it was presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., USA. Thereafter it was presented at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference...
.
- 2006 — Wales is appointed to the advisory board of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence
The MIT Center for Collective Intelligence is a research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, headed by Professor Thomas W. Malone that focuses on the study of collective intelligence....
.
- January 23, 2007 — Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published fortnightly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published fortnightly, and Business Week...
magazine ranks Wales twelfth in its first annual "The Web Celebs 25".
- 2007 — Wales is recognized by the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world...
as one of the 'Young Global Leaders' of 2007.
- May 2008 — Wales co-chairs the World Economic Forum on the Middle East 2008 in Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh , is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai with a population of approximately 35,000 ....
, Egypt.
- 2008 — CORUM awards him The Global Brand Icon of the Year Award for 2008.
- 2008 — Wales accepts on behalf of the Wikimedia project the Quadriga
Quadriga is an annual German award sponsored by Werkstatt Deutschland, a non-profit organization based in Berlin. The award recognizes four people or groups for their commitment to innovation, renewal, and a pioneering spirit through political, economic, and cultural activities.The award consists...
award of Werkstatt Deutschland for A Mission of Enlightenment.
- October 30, 2008 — Wales is awarded the Business Process Award at the 7th Annual Innovation Awards and Summit by The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in an office in the City of Westminster, London. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. While The Economist calls itself a...
"for public collaboration as a form of product and content development."
External links
- Jimmy Wales, Wales' official blog
- Wikipedia:Role of Jimmy Wales, Wales' role in the English Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is the English language edition of the free online Encyclopedia Wikipedia. Founded on 15 January 2001 and reaching three million articles by August 2009, it was the first edition of Wikipedia and remains the largest, with more than three times as many articles as the next...
- Audio of interview with Wales about wikipedia on EconTalk
EconTalk is a weekly podcast hosted by professor Russell Roberts at George Mason University. The talk consists of Roberts interviewing a guest—often a professional economist--while discussing topics in economics. Each episode lasts roughly an hour, but it varies widely...
podcast, from April 9, 2009.