Jimmy Wales

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Jimmy Wales

Wales in August 2019

Born Jimmy Donal Wales

August 7, 1966 (age 55)

Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

Other names Jimbo (screen name)[1]

 Auburn University (BS)
Education
 University of Alabama,

Tuscaloosa (MS)
 Indiana University, Bloomington

Occupation Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, financial

trader (formerly)

Title  President of Fandom, Inc. (2004–

present)
 Chair of Wikimedia

Foundation (2003–2006)
  Chair emeritus of Wikimedia

Foundation (2006–present)

Successor Florence Devouard (as Chair of Wikimedia

Foundation)

Board  Wikimedia Foundation

member of  Creative Commons

 Sunlight Foundation (advisory board)

(until September 2020)

 MIT Center for Collective

Intelligence (advisory board)
 Guardian Media Group (until April

2017)[2]
Pamela Green
Spouse(s)

(m. 1986; div. 1993)

Christine Rohan

(m. 1997; div. 2011)

Kate Garvey

(m. 2012)

Children 3 daughters

Awards See below

Jimmy Wales' voice

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Recorded August 2014

Website jimmywales.com 

Signature

Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known by the pseudonym Jimbo, is

an American-British[4] Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader.[3][5] He is a co-
founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia,[6] and the for-profit web hosting company
Wikia, later renamed Fandom.[7]
Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, where he attended Randolph School, a university-
preparatory school.[8][9][10] He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in finance from Auburn
University and the University of Alabama respectively.[9] In graduate school, Wales taught at two
universities; however, he departed before completing a PhD to take a job in finance and later
worked as the research director of a Chicago futures and options firm.
In 1996, Wales and two partners founded Bomis, a web portal featuring entertainment and adult
content. Bomis provided the initial funding for the free peer-
reviewed encyclopedia, Nupedia (2000–2003). On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and
others, Wales launched Wikipedia, a free open-content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid growth
and popularity. As Wikipedia's public profile grew, he became its promoter and spokesman.
Though he is historically credited as co-founder, he has disputed this, declaring himself the sole
founder.[11][12]
Wales serves on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, the charity that he helped
establish to operate Wikipedia, holding its board-appointed "community founder" seat. For his
role in creating Wikipedia, the world's largest encyclopedia, Time named him one of "The 100
Most Influential People in the World" in 2006.[13]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
o 2.1Chicago Options Associates and Bomis
o 2.2Nupedia and the origins of Wikipedia
o 2.3Wikipedia
 2.3.1Controversy regarding Wales's status as co-founder
 2.3.2Role
o 2.4Wikimedia Foundation
o 2.5Wikia and later pursuits
 3Political and economic views
o 3.1Personal philosophy
o 3.2Philosophy in practice
o 3.3Development and management of Wikipedia
o 3.4Testimony before Senate Homeland Security Committee
o 3.5European Court of Justice Google ruling
o 3.6Other issues
 4Personal life
 5Publications
 6Distinctions
 7See also
 8References
o 8.1Bibliography
 9Further reading
 10External links