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#REDIRECT [[User:Jimbo_Wales]]
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{{Infobox person
|name = Jimmy Wales
|image = Wikimedia Conference 2013 - board meeting 10.JPG
|imagesize = 250px
|caption = Wales at the Wikimedia Conference 2013 board meeting
|birth_name = Jimmy Donal Wales
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1966|8|7}}
|birth_place = [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], [[Alabama]], United States
|other_names = Jimbo (online moniker)<ref name=Garside-2014-08-03>{{cite news |work= The Observer |url = http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/aug/03/observer-profile-jimmy-wales-wikipedia |title = Jimmy Wales: digital champion of free speech |first = Juliette |last = Garside |location=London |date = August 3, 2014}}</ref>
|net_worth = c. $1 million (estimate {{As of|2014|lc=y}})<ref name=Garside-2014-08-03 /><ref name=Chozick-2013-06-30 />
|spouse = {{unbulleted list|Pamela Green|(m. 1986, div)|Christine Rohan|(m. 1997, div)|[[Kate Garvey]]|(m. 2012)}}
|alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|[[Auburn University]]}}
|occupation = [[Internet entrepreneur]], formerly a [[Trader (finance)|financial trader]]
|boards = {{unbulleted list|[[Wikimedia Foundation]]|[[Creative Commons]]|[[Sunlight Foundation]]|(advisory board)|[[MIT Center for Collective Intelligence]]|(advisory board)}}
|title= {{unbulleted list|President of [[Wikia, Inc.]]|(2004–present)|Chairman of [[Wikimedia Foundation]]|(2003–2006)|Chairman emeritus, [[Wikimedia Foundation]]|(2006–present)}}
|successor = [[Florence Devouard]]
|residence = [[London, England, United Kingdom]]<ref name=hough>{{cite news|last=Hough|first=Stephen|title=Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia chief to advise Whitehall on policy|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9137339/Jimmy-Wales-Wikipedia-chief-to-advise-Whitehall-on-policy.html|accessdate=May 30, 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=March 11, 2012}}</ref>
|awards = [[Jimmy Wales#Honors, awards and positions|See below.]]
|website = {{URL|jimmywales.com}}
|module = <span style="text-align:center;">{{Listen|embed=yes|filename=Jimmy Wales voice.ogg|title=<span style="text-align:center;">Jimmy Wales's voice</span>|type=speech|description=<span style="text-align:center;">[[:File:Jimmy Wales voice.ogg|Recorded August 2014]]</span>}}</span>
}}
'''Jimmy Donal''' "'''Jimbo'''" '''Wales''' ({{IPAc-en|'|dʒ|ɪ|m|i|_|ˈ|d|oʊ|n|əl|_|ˈ|w|eɪ|l|z}}; born August 7, 1966)<ref name="Date of birth">{{cite news | url=http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=227389 | title=Jimmy Wales’s benevolent Wikipedia wisdom | work=The Jerusalem Post | date=January 7, 2011 | accessdate=February 24, 2015 | author=Horovitz, David}}</ref> is an American [[Internet entrepreneur]] best known as the co-founder and promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]] and the for-profit [[Wikia]] web hosting company.<ref name='WMF PR 2004-04-25'/><ref name="Economist2008"/>

Wales was born in [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], [[Alabama]], where he attended [[Randolph School]], a university-preparatory school.<ref>Walden, Lea Ann, et al. (Spring 2013). "[http://content.yudu.com/Library/A28edh/RandolphMagazineSpri/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.randolphschool.net%2Fpodium%2Fdefault.aspx%3Ft%3D149781%26uplid%3D431684260%26rc%3D0 Where Are They Now?]". [http://www.randolphschool.net/R/publications Randolph Magazine] 18 (1). pp. 20–7. Retrieved August 26, 2014.</ref> Later he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in [[finance]] from [[Auburn University]] and the [[University of Alabama]], respectively.

While in graduate school, he taught at two universities, but left before completing a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] to take a job in finance and later worked as the research director of a Chicago [[Futures contract|futures]] and [[Options on futures contracts#Options on futures|options]] firm. In 1996, he and two partners founded [[Bomis]], a male-oriented web portal featuring entertainment and adult content. The company would provide the initial funding for the peer-reviewed free encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] (2000–03) and its successor, Wikipedia.

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 the project's promoter and spokesman. He is historically cited as a co-founder of Wikipedia, though he has disputed the "co-" designation, declaring himself the sole founder.<ref name="Brian Bergstein"/><ref name="Parmy Olson"/>

Wales serves on the board of trustees of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], the non-profit charitable organization he helped establish to operate Wikipedia, holding its board-appointed "community founder" seat. In 2004, he co-founded [[Wikia]], a for-profit [[wiki hosting service]]. His role in creating Wikipedia, which has become the world's largest encyclopedia, prompted ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine to name him in its 2006 [[Time 100|list]] of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1975813_1975844_1976488,00.html | title=2006 TIME 100 Jimmy Wales | work=Time | date=May 8, 2006 | accessdate=November 10, 2013}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Wales was born in [[Huntsville, Alabama]], shortly before midnight on August 7, 1966. However his official birth certificate lists his date of birth as the 8th.<ref name="Bio Jimmy Wales"/><ref name="Rogoway"/> His father, Jimmy,<ref name=kazek/> worked as a grocery store manager, while his mother, Doris Ann (née Dudley), and his grandmother, Erma, ran the House of Learning,<ref name=bookstopshere/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2618|title=Jimmy Wales|work=Encyclopedia of Alabama|accessdate=January 28, 2015}}</ref> a small private school in the tradition of the [[one-room school]]house, where Wales and his three siblings received their early education.<ref name=bookstopshere/><ref name=reasonmag/> As a child, Wales was a keen reader with an acute intellectual curiosity.<ref name="Economist2008"/>

During an interview in 2005 with [[Brian Lamb]], Wales described his childhood private school as a "[[Montessori method|Montessori]] influenced philosophy of education," where he "spent lots of hours poring over the ''Britannicas'' and ''World Book Encyclopedias''".<ref name="qanda"/> There were only four other children in Wales's [[Educational stages#United States and Canada|grade]], so the school grouped together the first through fourth-grade students and the fifth through eighth-grade students.<!--<ref name="qanda"/> --> As an adult, Wales was 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.<ref name="qanda"/>

After eighth grade, Wales attended [[Randolph School]],<ref name="Randolph"/><ref>Moore, Rebecca (January 7, 2013). “[http://blogs.randolphschool.net/K12/2013/01/07/wales/ Jimmy Wales ’83: ‘Information evangelist’]”, Randolph School. Retrieved August 12, 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dc617 Profile]". BBC Radio 4. March 18, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2014.</ref> a university-preparatory school in Huntsville, graduating at sixteen.<ref name=trend/> Wales said that the school was expensive for his family, but that "education was always a passion in my household&nbsp;... you know, the very traditional approach to knowledge and learning and establishing that as a base for a good life."<ref name="qanda"/> He received his bachelor's degree in finance from [[Auburn University]] in 1986.<ref name="Alabama">{{cite web | last=Wilson | first=Claire | url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2618 | title=Jimmy Wales | work=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]] | date=July 13, 2010 | accessdate=February 5, 2014}}</ref> Wales then entered the PhD finance program at the [[University of Alabama]] before leaving with a master's degree to enter the PhD finance program at [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University]].<ref name=reasonmag/><ref name="qanda"/><ref name=trend/> He taught at both universities during his postgraduate studies but did not write the doctoral dissertation required for a PhD, something he ascribed to boredom.<ref name=reasonmag/><ref name="qanda"/>

==Career==
===Chicago Options Associates and Bomis===
[[File:Bomis-staff-summer-2000.jpg|thumb|325px|The staff of Wales's Internet company [[Bomis]] photographed in summer 2000. Wales is third from the left in the back row, with his then-wife Christine.]]
In 1994, Wales took a job with [[Chicago Options Associates]], a [[futures contract|futures]] and [[option (finance)|options]] trading firm in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]].<ref name="qanda"/><ref name="2.0"/><ref name="knowitall"/> Wales has described himself as having been addicted to the Internet from an early stage and he wrote computer code during his leisure time. During his studies in Alabama, he had become an obsessive player of [[Multi-User Dungeons]] (MUDs)—a type of virtual [[role-playing game]]—and thereby experienced the potential of computer networks to foster large-scale collaborative projects.<ref name=trend/><ref name="am 2006 p93"/>

Inspired by the remarkably successful [[initial public offering]] of [[Netscape]] in 1995, and having accumulated capital through "speculating on interest-rate and foreign-currency fluctuations",<ref name=bookstopshere/> Wales decided to leave the realm of financial trading and became an Internet entrepreneur.<ref name=trend/> In 1996, he and two partners founded [[Bomis]],<ref name=bookstopshere/><ref name="am 2006 p88"/> a web portal featuring [[user-generated content|user-generated]] [[webring]]s and, for a time, erotic photographs.<ref name=accessforall/> Wales described it as a "guy-oriented search engine" with a market similar to that of ''[[Maxim (magazine)|Maxim]]'' magazine;<ref name="reasonmag"/><ref name="qanda"/><ref name="wirednews">{{cite news|last=Hansen|first=Evan|title=Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio|work=[[Wired News]]|date=December 19, 2005|url=http://archive.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69880|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref> the Bomis venture did not ultimately turn out to be successful.<ref name=bookstopshere/><ref name=reasonmag/><ref name=roy/>

===Nupedia and the origins of Wikipedia===
{{Main|Nupedia}}
[[File:Nupedia logo.jpg|thumb|[[Nupedia]]'s logo]]

Though Bomis had struggled to make money, it provided Wales with the funding to pursue his greater passion, an online encyclopedia.<ref name="reasonmag" /> While moderating an online discussion group devoted to the philosophy of [[Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|Objectivism]] in the early 1990s, Wales had encountered [[Larry Sanger]], a skeptic of the philosophy.<ref name="Economist2008" /> The two had engaged in detailed debate on the subject on Wales's list and then on Sanger's, eventually meeting offline to continue the debate and becoming friends.<ref name="Economist2008" /> Years later, after deciding to pursue his encyclopedia project and seeking a credentialed academic to lead it,<ref name="am 2006 p93" /> Wales hired Sanger—who at that time was a doctoral student in philosophy at [[Ohio State University]]—to be its [[Editor in chief|editor-in-chief]], and in March 2000, Nupedia ("the free encyclopedia"), a [[peer-review]]ed, [[Open content|open-content]] encyclopedia, was launched.<ref name="reasonmag" /><ref name="qanda" /> 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.<ref name="Economist2008" /> The project was characterized by an extensive peer-review process designed to make its articles of a quality comparable to that of professional encyclopedias.<ref name="Liane Gouthro" />
{{quote|The idea was to have thousands of volunteers writing articles for an online encyclopedia in all languages. Initially we found ourselves organizing the work in a very top-down, structured, academic, old-fashioned way. It was no fun for the volunteer writers because we had a lot of academic peer review committees who would criticize articles and give feedback. It was like handing in an essay at grad school, and basically intimidating to participate in.|||sign=Jimmy Wales on the Nupedia project ''[[New Scientist]]'', January 31, 2007<ref name=NEWSCMARKS/>}}

In an October 2009 speech, Wales recollects attempting to write a Nupedia article on Nobel Prize-winning economist [[Robert C. Merton]], but being too intimidated to submit his first draft to the prestigious finance professors who were to peer review it, even though he had published a paper on [[Black–Scholes|Option Pricing Theory]] and was comfortable with the subject matter. Wales characterized this as the moment he realized that the Nupedia model was not going to work.<ref name="YaleLecture">
{{cite video
|people= Jimmy Wales
|date= October 7, 2009
|title= The Future of Free Culture: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Vu69Ajtlk
|format= SWF,FLV,FLASH
|medium= Videotape

|publisher= Yale University
|location= New Haven, Connecticut, United States
|accessdate=August 18, 2011
|time= 43:19
}}
</ref>

In January 2001, Sanger was introduced to the concept of a [[wiki]] 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.<ref name="am 2006 p91"/> Kovitz suggested that adopting the wiki model would allow editors to contribute simultaneously and incrementally throughout the project, thus breaking Nupedia's bottleneck.<ref name="am 2006 p91"/> Sanger was excited about the idea, and after he proposed it to Wales, they created the first Nupedia wiki on January 10, 2001.<ref name="am 2006 p91"/> 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.<ref name=signon/> Thus, the wiki project, dubbed "Wikipedia" by Sanger,<ref name="Brian Bergstein"/> went live at a separate [[domain name|domain]] five days after its creation.<ref name="knowitall"/><ref name=roy/>

===Wikipedia===
{{Main|History of Wikipedia}}
{{external media | width = 210px | headerimage=[[File:Jimbo at Fosdem cropped.jpg|210px]] | align = right
| video1 =[https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia#t-650375 Jimmy Wales: The birth of Wikipedia], [[TED (conference)|TED]], 2005<ref name="TED">{{cite web | title =Jimmy Wales: The birth of Wikipedia | work = | publisher =[[TED (conference)]] | date =July 2005 | url =https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia#t-650375| accessdate =December 8, 2014 }}</ref>
| video2 =[http://www.c-span.org/video/?188855-1/qa-jimmy-wales Q&A with Jimmy Wales], [[C-SPAN]], 2005<ref name="qanda"/>
| video3=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pKIi3LuUBg Lecture Jimmy Wales: Understanding failure as a route to success], [[Maastricht University]], 2015<ref name="Maas">{{cite web | title =Lecture Jimmy Wales: Understanding failure as a route to success | work = | publisher =[[Maastricht University]] on YouTube | date =January 2015 | url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pKIi3LuUBg | accessdate =January 21, 2015 }}</ref>
}}

Originally, Bomis planned to make Wikipedia a profitable business.<ref name="Seth Finkelstein"/> Sanger initially saw Wikipedia primarily as a tool to aid Nupedia development. Wales feared that at worst, it might produce "complete rubbish".<ref name="knowitall"/> 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.<ref name="2.0"/><ref name="am 2006 p93"/> It was Jimmy Wales, along with other people, who came up with the broader idea of an open-source, collaborative encyclopedia that would accept contributions from ordinary people.<ref name="Sanger2005">{{cite book |last=Sanger |first=Larry |editor1-last=DiBona |editor1-first=Chris |editor2-last=Cooper |editor2-first=Danese |editor3-last=Stone |editor3-first=Mark |chapter=The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia: A Memoir |title=Open Sources 2.0: The Continuing Evolution |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q9GnNrq3e5EC&pg=PA312 |date=November 1, 2005 |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |isbn=978-0-596-00802-4 |page=312 |quote=To be clear, 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. I was merely a grateful employee; I thought I was very lucky to have a job like that land in my lap. Of course, other people had had the idea...}}</ref> Initially, neither Sanger nor Wales knew what to expect from the Wikipedia initiative.<ref name="knowitall"/><ref name="am 2006 p93"/> Many of the early contributors to the site were familiar with the model of the [[free culture movement]], and, like Wales, many of them sympathized with the [[open-source movement]].<ref name=signon/> Wales has said that he was initially so worried about the concept of open editing, where anyone can edit the encyclopedia, that he would awake during the night and monitor what was being added.<ref name="utopia"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Tapscott|first1=Don|last2=Anthony D.|title=Wikinomics|page=71|year=2008|publisher=Penguin Group|isbn=9781591842316|url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/263665459|oclc=263665459 }}</ref> Nonetheless, the cadre of early editors helped create a robust, self-regulating community that has proven conducive to the growth of the project.<ref name=reasonmag/>

Sanger developed Wikipedia in its early phase and guided the project.<ref name="Brian Bergstein"/><ref name="Michael Singer"/> The broader idea he originally ascribes to other people, remarking in a 2005 memoir for ''[[Slashdot]]'' 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. Of course, other people had had the idea", adding, "the actual development of this encyclopedia was the task he gave me to work on."<ref name=slashdot/> Sanger worked on and promoted both the Nupedia and Wikipedia projects until Bomis discontinued funding for his position in February 2002;<ref name=whyitmatters/> Sanger resigned as editor-in-chief of Nupedia and as "chief organizer" of Wikipedia on March 1 of that year.<ref name=resignation/><ref name=digitaluniverse/> Early on, Bomis supplied the financial backing for Wikipedia,<ref name="Michael Singer"/><ref name=seattle/> 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.<ref name="Seth Finkelstein"/>

====Controversy regarding Wales's status as co-founder====
{{Further|History of Wikipedia#Early roles of Wales and Sanger}}
[[File:Geek Entertainment TV - Irina Slutsky and Jimmy Wales.png|right|thumb|Wales with journalist [[Irina Slutsky]] at [[South by Southwest|SXSW 2006]], taken from her program ''Geek Entertainment TV''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geekentertainment.tv/2006/03/24/sxsw2006-jimmy-wales-uber-wikipedian/ |title=SXSW2006: Jimmy Wales, Uber Wikipedian |last1=Slutsky |first1=Irina |authorlink1=Irina Slutsky |last2=Codel |first2=Eddie |date=March 24, 2006 |publisher=Geek Entertainment TV |accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>]]
Wales has asserted that he is the sole founder of Wikipedia,<ref name="Parmy Olson"/> 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 Times]]'' and as founders in Wikipedia's first press release in January 2002.<ref name="sanger-NYTimes"/><ref name="Wikipedia Press Release of 2002"/> In August of that year, Wales identified himself as "co-founder" of Wikipedia.<ref name="Yahoo!"/> Sanger assembled on his personal webpage an assortment of links that appear to confirm the status of Sanger and Wales as co-founders.<ref name="Brian Bergstein"/><ref name="SangerLinks"/> For example, Sanger and Wales are historically cited or described in early news citations and press releases as co-founders.<ref name="Brian Bergstein"/> Wales was quoted by ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' as calling Sanger's claim "preposterous" in February 2006,<ref name="David Mehegan"/> and called "the whole debate silly" in an April 2009 interview.<ref name="William Paoletto"/>

In late 2005, Wales edited his own biographical entry on the [[English Wikipedia]]. Writer [[Rogers Cadenhead]] drew attention to [[Data logging|logs]] showing that in his edits to the page, Wales had removed references to Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref name="cadenhead"/><ref name="Dan Mitchell"/> 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."<ref name="wirednews"/><ref name="Rhys Blakely"/> Wales was also observed to have modified references to [[Bomis]] in a way that was characterized as downplaying the sexual nature of some of his former company's products.<ref name="knowitall"/><ref name="wirednews"/> Though Wales argued that his modifications were solely intended to improve the accuracy of the content,<ref name="wirednews"/> he apologized for editing his own biography, a practice generally discouraged on Wikipedia.<ref name="wirednews"/><ref name="Rhys Blakely"/>

====Role====
In a 2004 interview with ''Slashdot'', 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."<ref name=roblimo/> Although his formal designation is board member and chairman emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wales's [[social capital]] within the Wikipedia community has accorded him a status that has been characterized as [[benevolent dictator]], [[constitutional monarch]] and [[spiritual leader]].<ref name=wikipedia@nyt/><ref name=wikiworld/><ref name=egypt/> In two interviews with ''the Guardian'' in 2014, Wales elaborated on his role on Wikipedia. In the first interview, he said that while he "has always rejected" the term "benevolent dictator", he does refer to himself as the "constitutional monarch". In the second, he elaborated on his "constitutional monarch" designation, saying that, like the Queen of England, he has no real power.<ref name=Garside-2014-08-03 /><ref>{{cite news |last=Cadwalladr |first=Carole |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-interview | title=Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales: 'It's true, I'm not a billionaire. So?'&nbsp;– interview |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=February 7, 2014 |accessdate=February 8, 2014}}</ref> He was also the closest the project had to a spokesperson in its early years.<ref name="Economist2008"/> The growth and prominence of Wikipedia made Wales an [[Internet celebrity]].<ref name=arendse/> Although he had never traveled outside North America prior to the site's founding, his participation in the Wikipedia project has seen him flying internationally on a near-constant basis as its public face.<ref name="Economist2008"/><ref name=karasz/>

When Larry Sanger left Wikipedia, Wales's approach was different from Sanger's.<ref name=Anderson2011/> Wales was fairly hands-off.<ref name=Anderson2011>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jennifer Joline |page=76 |title=Wikipedia: The Company and Its Founders |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3Ql0ic5dTmgC&pg=PA76 |edition=1st |publisher=Abdo Group |year=2011 |isbn=1617148121}}</ref> Despite involvement in other projects, Wales has denied intending to reduce his role within Wikipedia, telling ''The New York Times'' in 2008 that "Dialing down is not an option for me&nbsp;... 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."<ref name=wikiworld/> In May 2010, the BBC reported that Wales had relinquished many of his technical privileges on [[Wikimedia Commons]] (a Wikipedia sister project that hosts much of its multimedia content) after criticism by the project's volunteer community over what they saw as Wales's hasty and undemocratic approach to deleting sexually explicit images he believed "appeal solely to prurient interests".<ref name=bbc2010/>

===Wikimedia Foundation===
[[File:Wm2007 press 002.jpg|thumb|upright|Wales appearing as a member of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] Board of Trustees at [[Wikimania 2007]] ]]
In mid-2003, Wales set up the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (WMF), a non-profit organization founded in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]] and later headquartered in [[San Francisco]], [[California]].<ref name=BBCTech/><ref name=cadelago/> All intellectual property rights and domain names pertaining to Wikipedia were moved to the new foundation,<ref name=telegraph/> whose purpose is to establish general policy for the encyclopedia and its sister projects.<ref name="am 2006 p93"/> Wales has been a member of the Wikimedia Foundation's [[Trustee|Board of Trustees]] since it was formed and was its official chairman from 2003 through 2006.<ref name=WMFD/> Since 2006 he has been accorded the honorary title of chairman [[emeritus]] and holds the board-appointed "community founder" seat.<ref name=terdiman/> His work for the foundation, including his appearances to promote it at computer and educational conferences, has always been unpaid.<ref name=accessforall/> Wales has often joked that donating Wikipedia to the foundation was both the "dumbest and the smartest" thing he had done. On one hand, he estimated that Wikipedia was worth US$3 billion; on the other, he weighed his belief that the donation made its success possible.<ref name=NEWSCMARKS/><ref name=telegraph/><ref name=dw-world/><ref name=ioltechnology/>

Wales gives an annual "State of the Wiki" address, at the [[Wikimania]] conference.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/15/3160926/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-gender-gap-kate-middleton-wedding-dress | title=Jimmy Wales, Mary Gardiner address Wikipedia's gender gap at Wikimania conference | work=The Verge | date=July 15, 2012 | accessdate=October 27, 2014 | author=Toor, Amar}}</ref>

====Controversies====
Wales's association with the foundation has led to controversy. In March 2008, Wales was accused by former Wikimedia Foundation employee Danny Wool of misusing the foundation's funds for recreational purposes.<ref name=moses/> Wool also stated that Wales had his Wikimedia credit card taken away in part because of his spending habits, a claim Wales denied.<ref name=moses/> Then-chairperson of the foundation [[Florence Devouard]] 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; in private, Devouard upbraided Wales for "constantly trying to rewrite the past".<ref name=ryan/> Later in March 2008, it was claimed by Jeffrey Vernon Merkey 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".<ref name="Moses2"/><ref name="bbcpaidediting"/>

===Wikia and later pursuits===
In 2004, Wales and then-fellow member of the WMF Board of Trustees Angela Beesley founded the for-profit company [[Wikia]].<ref name="2.0"/> Wikia is a [[wiki farm]]—a collection of individual wikis on different subjects, all hosted on the same website. It hosts some of the largest wikis outside Wikipedia, including [[Memory Alpha]] (devoted to ''[[Star Trek]]'') and [[Wookieepedia]] (''[[Star Wars]]'').<ref name=bjortomt/> Another service offered by Wikia was [[Wikia Search]], an open source search engine intended to challenge [[Google]] and introduce transparency and public dialogue about how it is created into the search engine's operations,<ref name="fastcompany"/> but the project was abandoned in March 2009.<ref name=updateonwikia/> Wales stepped down as Wikia CEO to be replaced by [[angel investor]] [[Gil Penchina]], a former vice president and general manager at [[eBay]], on June 5, 2006.<ref name="CEO"/> Penchina declared Wikia to have reached profitability in September 2009.<ref name=lavallee/> In addition to his role at Wikia, Wales is a public speaker represented by the Harry Walker Agency.<ref name=harrywalker/><ref name=harrywalkerbio/> He has also participated in a [[celebrity endorsement]] campaign for the Swiss watch maker [[Maurice Lacroix]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Rębała|first=Monika|title=Król Encyklopedii|url=http://www.newsweek.pl/artykuly/krol-encyklopedii,70199,2|accessdate=July 5, 2011|newspaper=Newsweek Polska|date=January 8, 2011|language=Polish}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref>

On November 4, 2011, Wales delivered an hour-long address at [[The Sage Gateshead]] in the United Kingdom to launch the 2011 Free Thinking Festival on [[BBC Radio Three]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016kgfd Jimmy Wales launches 2011 Free Thinking Festival], on [[BBC Radio Three]] November 4, 2011</ref> His speech, which was entitled "The Future of the Internet", was largely devoted to Wikipedia. Twenty days later, on November 24, Wales appeared on the British topical debate television program ''[[Question Time (TV series)|Question Time]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=This week's panel|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/9645839.stm|accessdate=November 24, 2011|newspaper=BBC Question Time|date=November 23, 2011}}</ref>

In May 2012, it was reported that Wales was advising the UK government on how to make taxpayer-funded academic research available on the internet at no cost.<ref name = "Advisor">{{cite news |title=Wikipedia founder to help in government's research scheme |last=Jha |first=Alok |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/01/wikipedia-research-jimmy-wales-online?newsfeed=true |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=May 1, 2012 |accessdate=December 26, 2012}}</ref> His role reportedly involved working as "an unpaid advisor on crowdsourcing and opening up policymaking", and advising the [[Department of Business, Innovation and Skills]] and the UK research councils on distributing research.<ref name="Advisor"/>

In January 2014, it was announced that Wales had joined [[The People's Operator]] as co-chair of the mobile phone network.<ref name="telegraphJan14">{{cite news | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/10583554/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-backs-viral-mobile-network-The-Peoples-Operator.html | title=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales backs 'viral mobile network' The People's Operator | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=January 20, 2014 |accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref>

On March 21, 2014, Wales spoke on a panel at a [[Clinton Global Initiative]] University conference held at [[Arizona State University]], along with [[John McCain]], Saudi Arabian women's rights activist [[Manal al-Sharif]] and Harvard University student [[Shree Bose]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cgiu.org/meetings/2014/agenda.asp?day=1 |title=CGI U 2014 Meeting Agenda | work=Clinton Global Initiative |date=March 21, 2014 |accessdate=March 23, 2014}}</ref> The topic of discussion was "the age of participation" and the ability of an increasingly large number of citizens to "express their own opinions, pursue their own educations, and launch their own enterprises." Wales exhorted young people to use social media to try to bring about societal change, and compared government suppression of the Internet to a human rights violation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mak |first=Tim |url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/bill-clinton-defends-american-control-of-internet-domain-name-system/article/2546105 |title=Bill Clinton defends American control of Internet domain name system |work=[[Washington Examiner]] |date=March 22, 2014 |accessdate=March 23, 2014}}</ref>

On May 26, 2014, Google appointed Wales to serve on a seven-member committee on privacy in response to ''[[Google v. Gonzalez]]'', which led to their being inundated with requests to remove websites from their search results. Wales said he wanted the committee to be viewed as "a blue-ribbon panel" by lawmakers and for the committee to advise them as well as Google.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fleischer |first=Lisa |url=http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/05/30/google-taps-wikipedias-wales-to-help-weigh-right-to-be-forgotten/ |title=Google Taps Wikipedia's Wales to Help Weigh "Right to Be Forgotten" |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=May 30, 2014 |accessdate=June 2, 2014}}</ref>

==Political and economic views==
[[File:JimmyWalesJI5.jpg|thumb|Wales in June 2008]]
[[File:2014-03-14 CeBIT Global Conferences, Jimmy Wales, Founder Wikipedia, (26) On stage showing the world for Wikipedia Zero (500 millions), while Brent Goff is still listening.jpg|thumb|Jimmy Wales 2014 on ''[[CeBIT]] Global Conferences'', [[Wikipedia Zero]]]]

===Personal philosophy===
Wales is a self-avowed [[Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|Objectivist]],<ref name="fastcompany"/> referring to [[Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|the philosophy]] invented by writer [[Ayn Rand]] in the mid-20th century that emphasizes [[reason]], [[individualism]], and [[capitalism]]. Wales first encountered the philosophy through reading Rand's novel ''[[The Fountainhead]]'' during his undergraduate period<ref name="qanda"/> and, in 1992, founded an electronic mailing list devoted to "Moderated Discussion of Objectivist Philosophy".<ref name="Economist2008"/><ref name=lrb/> Though he has stated that the philosophy "colours everything I do and think",<ref name="Economist2008"/> 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."<ref name=zenmonkeys/>

When asked by [[Brian Lamb]] about Rand's influence on him in his appearance on [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[Q & A (U.S. talk show)|Q&A]]'' in September 2005, Wales cited [[integrity]] and "the virtue of independence" as personally important. When asked if he could trace "the Ayn Rand connection" to a personal political philosophy at the time of the interview, Wales labeled himself a [[libertarianism|libertarian]], qualifying his remark by referring to the U.S. [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] 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.<ref name="qanda"/>

An interview with Wales served as the cover feature of the June 2007 issue of the libertarian magazine ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]''.<ref name=reasonmag/> In that profile, he described his political views as "[[center-right]]". Prior to 2008, Wales attended [[George Soros]]' birthday.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Open-Source Troubles in Wiki World |url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/open-source-troubles-in-wiki-world/?_r=0 |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 17, 2008 |access-date=June 8, 2015 }}<br/>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Noam |title=Speed bumps on the Wikipedia highway |url=http://www.thestar.com/business/2008/03/24/speed_bumps_on_the_wikipedia_highway.html |newspaper=The Star |location=Toronto, Canada |date=March 24, 2008 |access-date=June 8, 2015 }}</ref>

In a 2011 interview with ''[[The Independent]]'', he expressed sympathy with the [[Occupy Wall Street]] and [[Occupy London]] protesters, saying, "You don't have to be a [[socialism|socialist]] to say it's not right to take money from everybody and give it to a few rich people. That's not free enterprise."<ref>{{cite news |last=Dugan |first=Emily |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-the-internets-shy-evangelist-2374679.html |date=October 23, 2011 |title=Jimmy Wales: The internet's shy evangelist |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=February 18, 2014}}</ref>

[[Dan Hodges]] in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' has described Wales as a "[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] sympathizer".<ref>[[Dan Hodges|Hodges, Dan]], "[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11607869/Why-did-Ed-Miliband-refuse-the-help-of-Jimmy-Wales.html Why did Ed Miliband refuse the help of Jimmy Wales?]", ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'', May 15, 2015</ref>

===Philosophy in practice===
The January/February 2006 issue of ''[[Maximum PC]]'' reported that Wales refused to comply with a request from the People's Republic of China to censor "politically sensitive" Wikipedia articles—other corporate Internet companies, such as [[Google]], [[Yahoo!]] and [[Microsoft]], had already yielded to Chinese government pressure. Wales stated that he would rather see companies such as Google adhere to Wikipedia's policy of freedom of information.<ref>Maximum PC, 2006 holiday issue, p. 9, Future US, Inc., {{ISSN|1522-4279}}</ref> In 2010, Wales criticized whistle blower website [[WikiLeaks]] and its editor-in-chief [[Julian Assange]], saying that their publication of [[2010 Afghan War documents leak|Afghan war documents]] "could be enough to get someone killed"; furthermore, he expressed irritation at their use of the name "[[wiki]]":<ref>{{cite news |last=Reynolds |first=Lindor |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h88Z4oCWBfdZ_KGxXLSowK3RYUNw?docId=CNG.bf57684dba4b5bc4d7503b36b06a8e30.941 |title=Wikipedia co-founder slams Wikileaks |agency=Agence France-Presse |accessdate=September 28, 2010}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref> "What they're doing is not really a wiki. The essence of wiki is a collaborative editing ...".<ref>{{cite news |title=Jimmy Wales: 'It's not about how many pages. It's about how good they are' |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-its-not-about-how-many-pages-its-about-how-good-they-are-2164840.html |accessdate=December 29, 2010 |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=December 20, 2010}}</ref>

===Development and management of Wikipedia===
[[File:Jimbo at Bengali Wikipedia 10th anniversary celebration gala event, Dhaka (03).JPG|thumb|Wales at the tenth anniversary celebration of the Bengali Wikipedia]]
Wales cites [[Austrian School]] economist [[Friedrich Hayek]]'s essay, "[[The Use of Knowledge in Society]]", which he read as an undergraduate,<ref name=knowitall/> as "central" to his thinking about "how to manage the Wikipedia project".<ref name=reasonmag/> Hayek argued that [[dispersed knowledge|information is decentralized]]—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.<ref name=reasonmag/> Wales reconsidered Hayek's essay in the 1990s, while reading about the [[open source movement]], which advocated for the free distribution of [[free software]]. He was particularly moved by "[[The Cathedral and the Bazaar]]", an essay, which was later adapted into a book, by one of the founders of the movement, [[Eric S. Raymond]], as it "opened [his] eyes to the possibilities of mass collaboration."<ref name="knowitall"/>

From his background in finance, and working as a futures and options trader, Wales developed an interest in [[game theory]], and the effect of incentives on human collaborative activity—he identifies this fascination as a significant basis for his developmental work on the Wikipedia project.<ref name=humanities/> He has rejected the notion that his role in promoting Wikipedia is [[Altruism (ethics)|altruistic]], which he defines as "sacrificing your own values for others", stating "[t]hat [the idea of] participating in a benevolent effort to share information is somehow destroying your own values makes no sense to me".<ref name="karasz"/>

===Testimony before Senate Homeland Security Committee===
On December 11, 2007, Wales testified before to the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=1598&Affiliation=C|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226140404/http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=1598&Affiliation=C|title=Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs|archivedate=December 26, 2007|work=Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs|accessdate=January 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp110&sid=cp110ZUZBo&refer=&r_n=sr465.110&item=&sel=TOC_16770&|title=Committee Reports|work=loc.gov|accessdate=January 28, 2015}}</ref> He also submitted written testimony to the Senate Committee entitled "E-Government 2.0: Improving Innovation, Collaboration and Access".<ref>[[s:2007 Testimony by Jimmy Wales to United States Senate|(Text version)S. Hrg. 110–894. E–GOVERNMENT 2.0: IMPROVING INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, AND ACCESS. HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS. UNITED STATES SENATE. ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION. December 11, 2007.]]</ref><ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110shrg40507/pdf/CHRG-110shrg40507.pdf (pdf version)S. Hrg. 110–894. E–GOVERNMENT 2.0: IMPROVING INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, AND ACCESS. HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS. UNITED STATES SENATE. ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION. DECEMBER 11, 2007.]</ref>

Senator [[Joseph Lieberman]] introduced Wales by stating:
::We are very glad to have as a witness Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, one of the most thrilling examples of what collaborative technology can produce. We have asked Mr. Wales to take us through some of the ideas behind Wikipedia and then to relate them to our jurisdiction, which is to say to help us understand how similar technologies and collaborative activities can be applied to government for greater information sharing and communication, both within the government, but also between the government and the public.

::In fact, quite encouragingly, the intelligence community has already developed and is using a process collaborative technology that they call Intellipedia, which is based directly on the Wikipedia model. So Mr. Wales, if imitation is a form of flattery, you should feel flattered. And the aim of this is to foster collaboration and information across the intelligence community, obviously on a closed site.<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110shrg40507/pdf/CHRG-110shrg40507.pdf ''Introduction of Jimbo Wales by Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate'', S. Hrg. 110–894. ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION. DECEMBER 11, 2007.]</ref>

Wales's testimony is available for viewing on CSPAN.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4513973/jimbo-wales-testifies-us-senate-committee-homeland-security-government-operations|title=Jimbo Wales testifies US Senate Committee – Video – C-SPAN.org|work=C-SPAN.org|accessdate=January 28, 2015}}</ref>

===European Court of Justice Google ruling===
On May 14, 2014, Wales strongly reacted to the [[European Court of Justice]] (ECJ)'s ruling on the [[Google v. Gonzalez|right of individuals to request the removal of information from Google's search results]]. He stated to the BBC that the ruling was "one of the most wide-sweeping internet censorship rulings that I've ever seen".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Dave |url=http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27407017 |title=Google ruling 'astonishing', says Wikipedia founder Wales |publisher=BBC News |date=May 14, 2014 |accessdate=May 14, 2014 }}</ref> In early June 2014, the ''TechCrunch'' media outlet interviewed Wales on the subject, as he had been invited by Google to join an advisory committee that the corporation had formed as an addition to the formal process that the ECJ requested from Google to manage such requests.<ref name="Nat">{{cite web |last=Lomas |first=Natasha |title=Jimmy Wales Blasts Europe’s "Right To Be Forgotten" Ruling As A "Terrible Danger" |url=http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/07/wales-on-right-to-be-forgotten/?ncid=tcdaily |website=TechCrunch |publisher=AOL Inc |accessdate=June 9, 2014 |date=June 8, 2014}}</ref>

The May 2014 ECJ ruling required swift action from Google to implement a process that allowed people to directly contact the corporation about the removal of information that they believe is outdated or irrelevant. Wales <!-- a word is missing right here -->Google’s Larry Page revealed that 30 percent of requests received by Google since the ruling was made were categorized as "other". Wales explained in email responses that he was contacted by Google on May 28, 2014 and "The remit of the committee is to hold public hearings and issue recommendations—not just to Google but to legislators and the public."<ref name="Nat" /> When asked about his view on the ECJ’s “right to be forgotten” ruling, Wales replied:

<blockquote>
I think the decision will have no impact on people’s right to privacy, because I don’t regard truthful information in court records published by court order in a newspaper to be private information. If anything, the decision is likely to simply muddle the interesting philosophical questions and make it more difficult to make real progress on privacy issues. In the case of truthful, non-defamatory information obtained legally, I think there is no possibility of any defensible “right” to censor what other people are saying. It is important to avoid language like “data” because we aren’t talking about “data”—we are talking about the suppression of knowledge.<ref name="Nat" /></blockquote>

Wales then provided further explanation, drawing a comparison with Wikipedia: "You do not have a right to use the law to prevent Wikipedia editors from writing truthful information, nor do you have a right to use the law to prevent Google from publishing truthful information." Wales concluded with an indication of his ideal outcome: "A part of the outcome should be the very strong implementation of a right to free speech in Europe—essentially the language of the First Amendment in the U.S."<ref name="Nat" />

===Other issues===
In 2012, the [[Home Secretary]] of the U.K. was petitioned by Wales in regard to his opposition to the extradition of [[Richard O'Dwyer]] to the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ukhomeoffice-stop-the-extradition-of-richard-o-dwyer-to-the-usa-saverichard |title=Petitioning Home Secretary, UK: .@ukhomeoffice: Stop the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer to the USA #SaveRichard |publisher=Change.org |accessdate=July 3, 2014}}</ref> After an agreement was reached to avoid the extradition, Wales commented, "This is very exciting news, and I'm pleased to hear it ... What needs to happen next is a serious reconsideration of the UK extradition treaty that would allow this sort of nonsense in the first place."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Lizzy |last2=Ball |first2=James |last3=Bowcott |first3=Owen |title=Wikipedia founder hails extradition deal with US and calls for law reform |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/28/wikipedia-extradiction-law-review-odwyer |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=November 28, 2012 |accessdate=November 28, 2012}}</ref>

In January 2013, Wales criticized [[Oscillococcinum]], a homeopathic remedy for [[influenza]], on his blog, and questioned why it was legal.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://observer.com/2013/01/wikipedian-at-war-jimmy-wales-sets-his-sights-on-homeopathy/ | title=Wikipedian at War: Jimmy Wales Sets His Sights on Homeopathy | work=[[New York Observer]] | date=January 31, 2013 | accessdate=February 20, 2015}}</ref>

In August 2013, Wales criticized U.K. Prime Minister [[David Cameron]]'s plan for an Internet porn-filter, saying that the idea was "ridiculous."<ref name="XBIZ">{{cite news|url=http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=169017|publisher=XBIZ.com |date=September 17, 2013 |first=Lila |last=Gray |title=Wikipedia Gives Porn a Break |accessdate=October 20, 2013}}</ref> In November 2013, Wales also commented on the [[Global surveillance disclosure|Snowden affair]], describing [[Edward Snowden]] as "a hero" whom history would judge "very favourably"; additionally, Wales said the U.S. public "would have never approved [the] sweeping surveillance program [publicized by Snowden]", had they been informed or asked about it.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gabbatt |first=Adam |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/edward-snowden-nsa-wikipedia-founder |title=Edward Snowden a 'hero' for NSA disclosures, Wikipedia founder says |date=November 25, 2013 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |accessdate=December 7, 2013}}</ref>

In March 2014, Wales criticized [[holistic health]], a form of alternative medicine, as "the work of lunatic charlatans." Wales further explained that holistic health is not based on peer-reviewed studies.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sifferlin |first=Alexandra |url=http://time.com/36938/wikipedia-founder-sticks-it-to-lunatic-holistic-healers/ | title=Wikipedia Founder Sticks It To 'Lunatic' Holistic Healers |work=Time |date=March 25, 2014 | accessdate=April 6, 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Christine and Jimmy Wales.jpg|thumb|right|Wales with his second wife, Christine Rohan]]
Jimmy Wales has been married three times. At the age of twenty, he married Pamela Green,<ref name=Chozick-2013-06-30>{{cite news|last=Chozick|first=Amy|title=Jimmy Wales Is Not an Internet Billionaire|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/jimmy-wales-is-not-an-internet-billionaire.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 30, 2013}}</ref> a co-worker at a grocery store in Alabama.<ref name="karasz"/> They divorced in 1993.<ref name=Alabama/> He met his second wife, Christine Rohan, through a friend in Chicago while she was working as a steel trader for [[Mitsubishi]].<ref name="qanda"/><ref name=trend/> The couple were married in [[Monroe County, Florida]] in March 1997,<ref>{{cite book | title=Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia | publisher=[[Rosen Publishing]] | author=Meyer, Susan | year=2013 | page=27}}</ref> and had a daughter before separating.<ref name="qanda"/><ref name="karasz"/> Wales moved to [[San Diego]] in 1998, and after being dissuaded by the housing market there, relocated in 2002 to [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name=trend/><ref name=seattle/><ref name="Lewine"/>

Wales had a brief relationship with Canadian conservative columnist [[Rachel Marsden]] in 2008 that began after Marsden contacted Wales about her Wikipedia biography.<ref name=canadian/> After accusations that Wales's relationship constituted a [[conflict of interest]], Wales stated that there had been a relationship but that it was over and said that it had not influenced any matters on Wikipedia,<ref name="Sydney Morning Herald"/><ref name=USATODAY/> a claim which was disputed by Marsden.<ref name=agrell/>

Wales married [[Kate Garvey]] in [[London]] on October 6, 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Donnelly|first=Laura|title=Wiki wedding: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales marries Tony Blair's former aide|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9591824/Wiki-wedding-Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-marries-Tony-Blairs-former-aide.html#|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=October 6, 2012}}</ref> She is [[Tony Blair]]'s former [[diary secretary]], whom he{{who?|date=June 2015}} met in [[Davos]], Switzerland.<ref name=guardiangarvey/><ref>{{cite news |title=Jimmy Wales: Mr Wikipedia on today's blackout|first=Danny|last=Smallman|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24028957-mr-wikipedia-on-todays-blackout-moving-to-london-and-marrying-a-blair-babe.do|newspaper=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=January 18, 2012|accessdate=January 19, 2012}}</ref> Wales and Garvey have two daughters.<ref name=Garside-2014-08-03 />

Wales is an [[atheism|atheist]]. In an interview with [[Big Think]], he said his personal philosophy is firmly rooted in [[reason]] and he is a complete non-believer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jimmy Wales|url=http://bigthink.com/ideas/4870|work=What do you believe?|publisher=[[Big Think]] Media|accessdate=November 27, 2011|date=August 10, 2007|quote=I'm a complete non-believer.}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, he lives in London, England.<ref name=hough/>

==Honors, awards and positions==
[[File:293 GD-Preis 5524 crop.jpg|thumb|Wales at the [[Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute#Prize|Gottlieb Duttweiler Awards]] Show, 2011]]
[[File:Maastricht-39e Diesviering in de St. Janskerk (Universiteit Maastricht) (37).JPG|thumb|Wales receives an honorary doctorate from [[Maastricht University]], 2015]]
[[File:Jimmy Wales Accepting the Dan David Price.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Jimmy Wales Accepting the [[Dan David Prize]] at the [[Tel Aviv University]], 2015]]

* Wales is a former co-chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East 2008,<ref name=webforum/> and a former board member of [[Socialtext]].<ref name="socialtext" />

* He is a member of the [[Berkman Center for Internet & Society]] at Harvard Law School,<ref name="qanda"/> the advisory board of the [[MIT Center for Collective Intelligence]],<ref name=mitcci/> and the board of directors at [[Creative Commons]]<ref name=garlick/> and [[Hunch (website)|Hunch.com]].<ref name=hunch/>

* In 2006, Wales was listed in the "Scientists & Thinkers" section of the [[Time 100]]<ref name=Anderson/> and number 12 in ''[[Forbes]]'' "The Web Celebs 25".<ref name=forbes25/>

* Wales has also given a lecture in the Stuart Regen Visionary series at [[New Museum]] which "honors special individuals who have made major contributions to art and culture, and are actively imagining a better future"<ref name=NewMuseum/> and by the [[World Economic Forum]] as one of the "Young Global Leaders" of 2007.<ref name=icommons/>

* The 2008 Global Brand Icon of the Year Award,<ref name=mattbaily/> and on behalf of the Wikimedia project the [[Quadriga (award)|Quadriga]] award of Werkstatt Deutschland for ''A Mission of Enlightenment''.<ref name=intelligentlife/>

* The 2009 Nokia Foundation annual award,<ref name=nokiafoundation/> the Business Process Award at the 7th Annual Innovation Awards and Summit by ''[[The Economist]]''.<ref name=innovation/>

* In April 2011, Wales served on the jury of the [[Tribeca Film Festival]],<ref name=tribeca/> Wales has received a [[EFF Pioneer Award|Pioneer Award]],<ref name=infozine/> the [[Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize]] and the [[Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leonardo-award.eu/content/e677/e678/e682/e683/e820/index_eng.html |title=Press release |language=de |publisher=Leonardo-award.eu |date=September 21, 2011 |accessdate=July 3, 2014}}</ref> in 2011,<ref name=gd-prize>{{cite web|url=http://www.gdi.ch/en/gd-prize-2011 |title=GD Prize 2011 |publisher=Gdi.ch |accessdate=July 3, 2014}}</ref><ref>Isobel Leybold-Johnson. "[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Knowledge_is_our_most_important_resource.html?cid=29339594 Knowledge is our most important resource]". [[Swissinfo]] January 27, 2011.</ref> the Monaco Media Prize,.<ref name=barnett/> Wales has also received honorary degrees from [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]],<ref name=knox/> [[Amherst College]],<ref name=amherst/> [[Stevenson University]],<ref name=amherst/><ref name=stevenson/> Argentina's Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.21.edu.ar/identidad21-publicacion-ampliada.html?id=51 |title= Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, distinguished by UES 21|date= December 16, 2009|publisher= [[:es:Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21|Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21]]|accessdate=May 10, 2011}}</ref> and Russia's [[Moscow State Institute of Radio-engineering Electronics and Automation|MIREA]] University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mirea.ru/|title= Moscow State Technical University Website |author= [[MIREA]] |date=June 16, 2011 |quote=Rector prof. RAN AS Whitefish J. Wales handed a diploma and the mantle of Honorary Doctor Bauman MIREA. |accessdate=June 22, 2011}}</ref>

* On December 5, 2013, Wales was awarded the [[UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal]] in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark at a conference on "An Open World" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of [[Niels Bohr]]'s atomic theory. His presentation on "Wikipedia, Democracy and the Internet" emphasised the need to expand Wikipedia into virtually all the languages of the world. The "[[Wikipedia Zero]]" initiative was beginning to prove successful in encouraging telecommunications companies to provide children in the developing world with free access to Wikipedia for educational purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bohr-conference2013.ku.dk/documents/programme_1.pdf/|title=An Open World|publisher=University of Copenhagen|accessdate=December 2, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2013/2013.10/free_exchange_of_information_can_avert_technological_threats/|title=Niels Bohr Conference: Free exchange of information can avert technological threats|publisher=University of Copenhagen|date=October 24, 2013|accessdate=December 2, 2013 }}</ref> Wales was inducted into the [[Internet Hall of Fame]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/aaron-swartz-among-inductees-to-internet-hall-of-fame/ | title=Aaron Swartz among inductees to Internet Hall of Fame | work=CBS News | date=June 26, 2013 | accessdate=December 10, 2014 | author=Ngak, Chenda}}</ref>

* In February 2014, Wales was named one of "25 Web Superstars" by ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Curtis |first=Sophie |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10665375/25-years-of-the-World-Wide-Web-25-Web-superstars.html |title=25 years of the World Wide Web: 25 Web superstars | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=February 28, 2014 |accessdate=March 1, 2014}}</ref> On May 17, 2014, Wales became ''Doctor Honoris Causa'' of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the [[Università della Svizzera italiana]] (USI Lugano, Switzerland).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newmine.blogspot.ch/2014/05/jimmy-wales-doctor-honoris-causa-in.html|title=From the blog of Lorenzo Cantoni, dean of the Faculty|accessdate=May 17, 2014 }}</ref> On June 25, 2014, Wales received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Nobel laureate [[Muhammad Yunus]] at [[Glasgow Caledonian University]] in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland/280548-scotland-tonight-wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-honoured-in-glasgow/ |title=Scotland Tonight: Wikipedia founder honoured in Glasgow |work=[[STV News]] |date=June 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 4, 2014}}</ref> On July 10, 2014, Wales received the UK [[Tech4Good Awards]] "Special Award" for establishing Wikipedia. He was one of eight winners in various categories meant to honor organizations and individuals who use digital technology to improve the lives of others.<ref>{{cite web |last=Smolaks |first=Max |url=http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/tech4good-awards-celebrate-digital-inclusion-148925 |title=Tech4Good Awards Celebrate Digital Inclusion |work=Tech Week Europe |date=July 11, 2014 |accessdate=July 11, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tech4goodawards.com/winners-2014/ |title=Tech4Good Awards 2014 Winners |publisher=Tech4Good Awards |date=July 10, 2014 |accessdate=July 11, 2014}}</ref> In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1-million [[Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award]] with [[World Wide Web]] inventor [[Sir Tim Berners-Lee]].<ref>Shabandri, Muaz (December 8, 2014) "[http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/nationgeneral/2014/December/nationgeneral_December56.xml&section=nationgeneral Web inventor, Wiki co-founder share $1m Knowledge Award]". khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved December 8, 2014.</ref>

* In January 2015, [[Maastricht University]] awarded an honorary doctorate to Wales.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maastricht University awards honorary doctorates to Frans Timmermans and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales|url=http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Main1/SiteWide/SiteWide11/MaastrichtUniversityAwardsHonoraryDoctoratesToFransTimmermansAndWikipediaFounderJimmyWales.htm|publisher=[[Maastricht University]]|accessdate=November 23, 2014}}</ref> On April 25, 2015, Wales received the [[Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service]] along with [[Jon Bon Jovi]] and [[Edward Norton]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bonjovi.com/news/117619618677/photos-from-the-36th-annual-common-wealth-awards#.VVrgI0ZyTp8| title=Photos from the 36th Annual Common Wealth Awards| work=bonjovi.com| date=March 20, 2015 | accessdate=April 28, 2015}}</ref> On May 17, 2015, Wales received the [[Dan David Prize]] of $1 million in the "Present" category (others won that amount for "Past" and "Future" contributions to society).<ref>{{cite news|title=Dan David Foundation to award three prizes of $1 million to six world renowned laureates|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Dan-David-Foundation-to-award-three-prizes-of-1-million-to-six-world-renowned-laureates-390602|accessdate=February 11, 2015|work=Jerusalem Post|date=February 11, 2015|ref=DanDavid}}</ref> He was awarded the prize for "launching the world's largest online encyclopedia".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Wikipedia co-founder, genome project leader among recipients of Dan David Prize|publisher=''[[Jerusalem Post]]''|date=February 10, 2015 |accessdate=May 17, 2015}}</ref>

==Publications==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brooks|first=Robert|author2=Jon Corson, Jimmy Donal Wales|year=1994|url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5735|title=The Pricing of Index Options When the Underlying Assets All Follow a Lognormal Diffusion|journal=Advances in Futures and Options Research|volume=7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2=Andrea Weckerle|contribution=Foreword|title=Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World|editor1-first=Matthew|editor1-last=Fraser|editor1-link=Matthew Fraser (journalist)|editor2-first=Soumitra|editor2-last=Dutta|editor2-link=Soumitra Dutta|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|edition=1st|date=December 31, 2008|isbn=0-470-74014-0|oclc=233939846|separator=,}}
* {{Cite news|first=Jimmy|last=Wales|author2=Andrea Weckerle|title=Commentary: Create a tech-friendly U.S. government|publisher=CNN|date=January 8, 2009|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/07/wales.obama.cto/}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2=Andrea Weckerle|contribution=Foreword|title=33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking|editor1-first=Juliette|editor1-last=Powell|editor1-link=Juliette Powell|publisher=[[Financial Times Press]]|edition=1st|date=February 10, 2009|isbn=0-13-715435-6|oclc=244066502|separator=,}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2=Andrea Weckerle|contribution=Foreword|title=Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business|editor1-first=Larry|editor1-last=Weber|editor1-link=Larry Weber|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|edition=2nd|date=March 3, 2009|isbn=0-470-41097-3|oclc=244060887|separator=,}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|contribution=Foreword|title=[[The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia]]|editor1-first=Andrew|editor1-last=Lih|editor1-link=Andrew Lih|publisher=[[Hyperion Books|Hyperion]]|edition=1st|date=March 17, 2009|isbn= 1-4013-0371-4
|oclc=232977686|separator=,}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2=Andrea Weckerle|date=March 30, 2009|url=http://www.aef.com/industry/news/data/2009/9014|title=Most Define User-Generated Content Too Narrowly|journal=[[Advertising Age]]|volume=80}}
* {{Cite news|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2=Andrea Weckerle|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574572101333074122.html|title=Keep a Civil Cybertongue|date=December 28, 2009|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}
* {{cite pmid|18507872|noedit}}
{{Refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Bio Jimmy Wales">
{{cite web |title=Jimmy Wales|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=July 16, 2014|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1192821/Jimmy-Wales|accessdate=January 30, 2015}}
</ref><ref name="Rogoway">
* {{cite web |title=Jimmy Wales – Researcher's Note|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=July 16, 2014|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/1192821/supplemental-information|accessdate=January 30, 2015}}
* {{cite web |last=Rogoway |first=Mike |date=July 27, 2007 |url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/2007/07/on_wikipedia_and_its_founders.html|title=Wikipedia & its founder disagree on his birth date|work=Silicon Forest|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref><ref name='WMF PR 2004-04-25'>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_press_releases/500,000_Wikipedia_articles&oldid=473206 |title=Wikipedia: 50 languages, 1/2 million articles|accessdate=April 10, 2009|date=April 25, 2004|work=Wikimedia Foundation Press Release|publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]]}}"''The Wikipedia project was founded in January 2001 by Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales and philosopher Larry Sanger,''" quoted from April 25, 2004 first-ever press release issued by the Wikimedia Foundation.<br />&nbsp;•{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Press_releases/January_2003&oldid=93032067|title=Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, reaches its 100,000th article|accessdate=April 10, 2009|date=January 21, 2003|work=Wikipedia Press Release|publisher=Wikipedia}}</ref>
<ref name="Economist2008">{{cite news
|title=Brain scan: The free-knowledge fundamentalist
|url=http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11484062
|work=The Economist
|date= June 5, 2008
|accessdate=June 9, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="Michael Singer">{{cite news
|first=Michael
|last=Singer
|url=http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3531_956641
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20030316/siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3531_956641
|archivedate=March 16, 2003
|title=Free Encyclopedia Project Celebrates Year One
|work=[[Jupitermedia]]
|date=January 16, 2002
|accessdate=February 27, 2008}}</ref>
<!-- unused reference
<ref name="TheDailyShow May 1, 2011">
{{cite interview
|url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-5-2011/jimmy-wales
|title=The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
|accessdate=January 5, 2011
|last=Stewart
|first=Jon
|date=January 5, 2011
|work=Interview
|publisher=[[Comedy Central]]}}
</ref> -->
<ref name=terdiman>
{{cite web
|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9932493-52.html?tag=nefd.top
|title=Wikimedia Foundation restructures its board
|publisher=[[CNET News]]
|accessdate=May 19, 2009
|date=April 30, 2008
|last=Terdiman
|first=Daniel
}}</ref>
<ref name=Anderson>{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Chris |date=April 30, 2006 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187286,00.html |title=Jimmy Wales: The (Proud) Amateur Who Created Wikipedia |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |accessdate=February 17, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name=kazek>{{cite web
|last=Kazek
|first=Kelly
|url=http://valdostadailytimes.com/entertainment/cnhinspopculture_story_223174601.html
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080320205344/http://valdostadailytimes.com/entertainment/cnhinspopculture_story_223174601.html
|archivedate=March 20, 2008
|title=Geek to chic: Wikipedia founder a celebrity
|date=August 11, 2006
|work=The News Courier
|quote=Doris Wales's husband, Jimmy, wasn't sure what she was thinking when she bought a World Book Encyclopedia set from a traveling salesman in 1968.}}</ref>
<ref name="qanda">
{{cite news
|title=Q&A: Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder
|author=Lamb, Brian
|url= http://www.c-span.org/video/?188855-1/qa-jimmy-wales
|work=[[C-SPAN]]
|date=September 25, 2005
|accessdate=October 31, 2006
|authorlink= Brian Lamb}}
</ref>
<ref name="Randolph">
{{cite news
|url=http://www.randolphschool.net/alumni/welcome/profiles.asp?newsid=432566
|title=Jimmy Wales '83
|accessdate=October 31, 2008
|last=Brown
|first=David
|date=December 11, 2007
|work=Alumni Profiles
|publisher=[[Randolph School]]
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100418000631/http://www.randolphschool.net/alumni/welcome/profiles.asp?newsid=432566
|archivedate=April 18, 2010}}
</ref>
<ref name=trend>{{cite news|last=Barnett|first=Cynthia|title=Wiki Mania|work=[[Florida Trend]]|volume=48|issue=5|page=62|date=September 2005|url=http://www.floridatrend.com/issue/default.asp?a=5617&s=1&d=9/1/2005|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20061017142949/http://www.floridatrend.com/issue/default.asp?a=5617&s=1&d=9/1/2005|archivedate=October 17, 2002}}</ref>
<ref name=bookstopshere>{{cite news
|last=Pink
|first=Daniel H.
|title=The Book Stops Here
|work=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
|volume=13
|issue=3
|date=March 13, 2005
|url= http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/wiki.html
|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}
</ref>
<ref name=accessforall>{{cite news|last=Brennen|first=Jensen|title=Access for All|work=[[The Chronicle of Philanthropy]]|volume=18|issue=18|date=June 26, 2006}}</ref>
<ref name="reasonmag">{{cite news|last=Mangu-Ward|first=Katherine|title=Wikipedia and beyond: Jimmy Wales's sprawling vision|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|volume=39|issue=2|page=21|date=June 2007|accessdate=October 31, 2008|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/119689.html}}</ref>
<ref name=roy>{{cite journal
|last=Rosenzweig
|first=Roy
|authorlink=Roy Rosenzweig
|title=Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past
|journal=[[The Journal of American History]]
|volume=93
|issue=1
|pages=117–46
|date=June 2006
|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/essays-on-history-new-media/essays/?essayid=42
|format=reprint
|accessdate=April 22, 2009
|doi=10.2307/4486062}}</ref>
<ref name="Liane Gouthro">{{cite news
|first=Liane
|last=Gouthro
|title=Building the world's biggest encyclopedia
|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/03/14/nupedia.idg/
|work=[[PC World]]
|publisher=CNN
|date=March 14, 2000
|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref>
<ref name="Brian Bergstein">{{cite news
|first=Brian
|last=Bergstein
|authorlink=Brian Bergstein
|title=Sanger says he co-started Wikipedia
|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17798723/
|publisher=[[MSNBC]]
|agency=Associated Press
|date=March 25, 2007
|accessdate=March 26, 2007
|quote=The nascent Web encyclopedia Citizendium springs from Larry Sanger, a philosophy PhD who counts himself as a co-founder of Wikipedia, the site he now hopes to usurp. The claim does not seem particularly controversial—Sanger has long been cited as a co-founder. Yet the other founder, Jimmy Wales, is not happy about it.}}</ref>
<ref name="2.0">{{cite news
|first=Tom
|last=McNichol
|title=Building a Wiki World
|url= http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/03/01/8401010/
|work=[[Business 2.0]]
|publisher=CNN
|date=May 1, 2007
|accessdate=October 31, 2007}}</ref>
<ref name=signon>{{cite news|last=Sidener|first=Jonathan|title=Everyone's encyclopedia|work=[[U-T San Diego]]|date=December 6, 2004|page=C1|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041206/news_mz1b6encyclo.html|accessdate=April 22, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="utopia">
{{cite news
|last=Getz
|first=Arlene
|title= In Search of an Online Utopia
|work=Newsweek
|publisher=MSNBC
|date=February 1, 2007
|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16926950/site/newsweek/
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070418204627/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16926950/site/newsweek/|archivedate=April 18, 2007|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name=slashdot>{{cite news
|last=Sanger
|first=Larry
|title=The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia: A Memoir
|work=[[Slashdot]]
|url= http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/18/164213
|date=April 18, 2005
|accessdate=October 31, 2005}}</ref>
<ref name=whyitmatters>{{cite web
|url= http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_and_why_it_matters&oldid=149626
|last=Sanger
|first=Larry
|date=January 18, 2002
|title=What Wikipedia is and why it matters
|work=meta.wikimedia.org
|publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]]
|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name=resignation>{{cite web|last=Sanger|first=Larry|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_resignation--Larry_Sanger&oldid=23899|title=My resignation – Larry Sanger|work=meta.wikimedia.org|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|date=March 5, 2007|accessdate=October 17, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=digitaluniverse>{{cite web|authorlink=Daniel Terdiman|last=Terdiman|first=Daniel|date=January 6, 2006|url=http://news.cnet.com/Wikipedias-co-founder-eyes-a-Digital-Universe/2008-1082_3-6011487.html|title=Wikipedia's co-founder eyes a Digital Universe|work=[[CNET News]]|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="Seth Finkelstein">{{cite news
|first=Seth
|last=Finkelstein
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/25/wikipedia.internet
|title=Wikipedia isn't about human potential, whatever Wales says
|work=The Guardian
|date=September 25, 2008
|accessdate=April 27, 2009
|location=London}}</ref>
<ref name="Parmy Olson">{{cite news
|first=Parmy
|last=Olson
|title=A New Kid on the Wiki Block
|url=http://www.forbes.com/2006/10/18/sanger-wikipedia-citizendium-face-cx_po_1018autofacescan02.html
|work=Forbes
|date=October 18, 2006
|accessdate=March 28, 2009
}}</ref>
<ref name="sanger-NYTimes">
{{cite news
|last=Meyers
|first=Peter
|title=Fact-Driven? Collegial? This Site Wants You
|work=The New York Times
|date=September 20, 2001
|page=C2<!-- circuits, not an op ed -->
|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E5D6123BF933A1575AC0A9679C8B63
|accessdate=October 31, 2008
|quote=I can start an article that will consist of one paragraph, and then a real expert will come along and add three paragraphs and clean up my one paragraph.}}&nbsp;– Larry Sanger.</ref>
<ref name="Wikipedia Press Release of 2002">{{cite news
|title=Free Encyclopedia Project, Wikipedia, Creates 20,000 Articles in a Year (Wikipedia 2002 Press release)
|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Press_releases/January_2002
|publisher=Wikipedia
|date=January 15, 2002
|accessdate=April 4, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="Yahoo!">{{cite news
|first=Jimmy
|last=Wales
|url=http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/xodp/message/1720
|title=3apes open content web directory
|work=[[Yahoo!|Yahoo! Tech Groups forum post]]
|publisher=[[WebCite]]
|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5fhXjrexf
|date=August 6, 2002
|accessdate=April 3, 2009
|archivedate=April 1, 2009
|quote=I'm Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Nupedia and Wikipedia, the open content encyclopedias.}}</ref>
<ref name="SangerLinks">{{cite web
|url=http://www.larrysanger.org/roleinwp.html
|title=My role in Wikipedia (links)
|last=Sanger
|first=Larry
|publisher=larrysanger.org
|accessdate=September 27, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="David Mehegan">{{cite news|last=Mehegan|first=David|title=Bias, sabotage haunt Wikipedia's free world|work=Boston Globe|page=4|date=February 12, 2006|url=http://boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=4|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name="William Paoletto">{{cite news
|first=William
|last=Paoletto
|url=http://www.bigoakinc.com/blog/interview-with-wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales
|title=Interview with Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales
|publisher=Big Oak Blog
|date=April 2, 2009
|accessdate=April 2, 2009
}}</ref>
<ref name="cadenhead">{{cite web
|url= http://workbench.cadenhead.org/news/2828/wikipedia-founder-looks-out-number-1
|first=Rogers
|last=Cadenhead
|date=December 19, 2005
|accessdate=October 31, 2008
|title=Wikipedia Founder Looks Out for Number 1
|publisher=cadenhead.org}}</ref>
<ref name="Dan Mitchell">
{{cite news
|first=Dan
|last=Mitchell
|title=Insider Editing at Wikipedia
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/technology/24online.ready.html?ex=1293080400&en=431aff478b00239e&ei=5090
|work=The New York Times
|date=December 24, 2005
|accessdate=April 22, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="Rhys Blakely">{{cite news
|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/media/article2180198.ece
|first=Rhys
|last=Blakely
|date=December 20, 2005
|accessdate=October 31, 2008
|title=Wikipedia founder edits himself
|work=The Times |location=London}}</ref>
<ref name="knowitall">{{cite news
|title= Know It All
|first=Stacy
|last=Schiff
|authorlink=Stacy Schiff
|url= http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/31/060731fa_fact
|work=The New Yorker
|date=July 31, 2006
|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}<br />
<sup>'''''b'''''</sup> "Even Wales has been caught airbrushing his Wikipedia entry—eighteen times in the past year. He is particularly sensitive about references to the porn traffic on his Web portal. 'Adult content' or 'glamour photography' are the terms that he prefers, though, as one user pointed out on the site, they are perhaps not the most precise way to describe lesbian strip-poker threesomes. (In January, Wales agreed to a compromise: 'erotic photography')."</ref>
<ref name=roblimo>{{cite news
|last=Miller
|first=Rob "Roblimo"
|title=Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Responds
|publisher=[[Slashdot]]
|url= http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/28/1351230
|date=July 28, 2004
|accessdate=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name=arendse>{{cite news
|last=Arendse
|first=Ilse
|title=MySpace will fail
|url=http://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News/1132/953156753ab842f1a8369c5dfdc20e25/20-04-2007-02-53/MySpace_will_fail
|work=[[News24]]
|date= April 20, 2007
|accessdate=August 27, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name="Moses2">{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/more-woes-for-wikipedias-jimmy-wales/2008/03/11/1205125874243.html|title=More woes for Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales|date=March 11, 2008|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=March 11, 2008|first=Asher|last=Moses}}</ref>
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|quote="Wales revealed that Wikia, his for-profit Silicon Valley startup, was working on Search Wikia, which he touted as "the search engine that changes everything&nbsp;... Just as Wikipedia revolutionized how we think about knowledge and the encyclopedia, we have a chance now to revolutionize how we think about search."}}</ref>
<ref name=updateonwikia>Wales, Jimmy (March 31, 2009). "[http://blog.jimmywales.com/index.php/archives/2009/03/31/update-on-wikia/ Update on Wikia&nbsp;– doing more of what’s working]". blog.jimmywales.com. Retrieved May 4, 2009.</ref>
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<ref name=lavallee>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/09/09/wikia-hits-profit-target-early/|title=Wikia Hits Profit Target Early|work=Digits|first=Andrew|last=LaVallee|date=September 9, 2009|accessdate=October 17, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=harrywalker>{{cite web|url=http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker/Jimmy-Wales.cfm?Spea_ID=1135|title=Jimmy Wales|publisher=harrywalker.com|accessdate=September 25, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=harrywalkerbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.harrywalker.com/bios/Wales_Jimmy.pdf|publisher=harrywalker.com|accessdate=September 25, 2009|title=Jimmy Wales (full biography)|format=PDF}}</ref>
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<sup>'''''C'''''</sup> "Greatest misconception about Wikipedia: We aren’t democratic. Our readers edit the entries, but we’re actually quite snobby. The core community appreciates when someone is knowledgeable, and thinks some people are idiots and shouldn’t be writing."
</ref>
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<ref name=humanities>{{cite journal |last=Cole |first=Bruce |authorlink=Bruce Cole |title=Building a Community of Knowledge|journal=Humanities |date=March–April 2007 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=6–14 |url=http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2007-03/Building_A_Community.htm |accessdate=December 27, 2009}}</ref><ref name=socialtext>{{cite press release
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"[http://www.knox.edu/x12330.xml Knox College Honorary Degrees]{{dead link|date=April 2015}}", knox.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2008.</ref>
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<ref name=mitcci>"[http://cci.mit.edu/people/index.html People: Advisory board]{{dead link|date=April 2015}}", cci.mit.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2008.</ref>
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<ref name=NewMuseum>
* {{cite web|title=Stuart Regen Visionaries Series: Jimmy Wales|url=http://www.newmuseum.org/events/438|publisher=New Museum|accessdate=April 6, 2011}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}
* {{cite web|title=Wikipedia founder James Wales at New Museum as 2010 Stuart Regen Visionary|url=http://www.flashartonline.com/interno.php?pagina=news_det&id=714&det=ok&title=Wikipedia-founder-James-Wales-at-New-Museum-as-2010-Stuart-Regen-Visionary|work=Flash Art|accessdate=April 6, 2011}}{{dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref>
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<ref name=intelligentlife>{{cite web|url=http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/peter-gabriel|work=[[Intelligent Life (magazine)|Intelligent Life]]|publisher=[[The Economist Group]]|title=Peter Gabriel: Rocker, Human-Rights Advocate|accessdate=October 20, 2009|first=James|last=Woodall}}</ref>
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<ref name=nokiafoundation>{{cite web
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<ref name=barnett>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/6589487/Jimmy-Wales-interview-Wikipedia-is-focusing-on-accuracy.html|title=Jimmy Wales interview: Wikipedia is focusing on accuracy|date=November 17, 2009|first=Emma|last=Barnett|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>
<ref name=hunch>{{cite web|url=http://blog.jimmywales.com/2009/12/07/whats-new-for-me-hunch/|title=What's new for me: Hunch|first=Jimmy|last=Wales|date=December 7, 2009|accessdate=December 7, 2009|publisher=blog.jimmywales.com}}</ref>
<ref name=amherst>
"[https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/news/news_releases/2010/04/node/191455 Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, Poet Mary Jo Salter, Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse Among Eight to Be Honored at Amherst Commencement]", amherst.edu. Retrieved May 23, 2010.</ref>
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<ref name="am 2006 p88">[[#CITEREFPoe2006|''The Atlantic Monthly'', September 2006]], p. 88. "In 1996, Wales and two partners founded a Web directory called Bomis. [...] 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."</ref>
<ref name="am 2006 p91">[[#CITEREFPoe2006|''The Atlantic Monthly'', September 2006]], p. 91. "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. [...] Wales and Sanger created the first Nupedia wiki on January 10, 2001. The initial purpose was to get the public to add entries that would then be "fed into the Nupedia process" of authorization."</ref>
<ref name="am 2006 p93">[[#CITEREFPoe2006|''The Atlantic Monthly'', September 2006]], p. 93. "Wales, though, was a businessman. He wanted to build a free encyclopedia, and Wikipedia offered a very rapid and economically efficient means to that end. The articles flooded in, many were good, and they cost him almost nothing. [...] In 2003, Wales [decided to] diminish his own authority by transferring Wikipedia and all of its assets to the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, whose sole purpose is to set general policy for Wikipedia and its allied projects. [...] Wales's benign rule has allowed Wikipedia to do what it does best: grow. The numbers are staggering."</ref>
<ref name=stevenson>{{cite web
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|title=Stevenson University awards Honorary Degree
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{{cite web
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{{cite web
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{{cite news
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<ref name=guardiangarvey>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/feb/19/interview-jimmy-wales-wikipedia |title=The Saturday interview: Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales |first=Aida |last=Edemariam |work=The Guardian |date=February 19, 2011 |accessdate=February 19, 2011 |location=London}}</ref>
<ref name=tribeca>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/04/18/tribeca-film-jury-includes-cast-of-actors-directors/ |work=The Wall Street Journal |title=Tribeca Film Festival Names Actors, Directors to Its Jury |date=April 18, 2011 |accessdate=August 18, 2011 |first=Aaron |last=Rutkoff}}</ref>
}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{Cite journal|last=Poe|first=Marshall|authorlink=Marshall Poe|title=The Hive|journal=The Atlantic Monthly|volume=298|issue=2|date=September 2006|pages=86–94|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200609/wikipedia|accessdate=February 29, 2008|ref=CITEREFPoe2006}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Jimmy Wales|v=no|wikt=no|b=no|voy=no|author=yes}}
* {{Official website}}
** {{Official blog|blog.jimmywales.com}}
* [[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimmy Wales's]] Wikipedia userpage
* [http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales Jimmy Wales]' Wikia userpage
* {{IMDb name|2467065}}
* {{Charlie Rose view|257}}
* {{C-SPAN| Jimmy Wales }}
* {{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Russ |title=Wales on Wikipedia |url=http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/jimmy_wales/ |work=[[EconTalk]] |publisher=[[Library of Economics and Liberty]] |authorlink=Russ Roberts |date=March 9, 2009}}
* {{srlink|Wikipedia:Role of Jimmy Wales}}, Wales's role in the [[English Wikipedia]] as described by its editors<!-- please do not make this an internal link; see [[Wikipedia:Avoid self-references]] and this article's talk page for reasons -->
;Multi-media
* {{cite web|url = https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia|title = The birth of Wikipedia – Jimmy Wales recalls how he assembled "a ragtag band of volunteers," gave them tools for collaborating and created Wikipedia, the self-organizing, self-correcting, never-finished online encyclopedia |publisher = [[TED (conference)|TED talks]]|date = July 2005}}

{{Wikipediahistory}}
{{Wikia topics}}
{{Internet Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Persondata
|NAME=Wales, Jimmy
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Wales, Jimbo
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=American [[Internet entrepreneur]], co-founder of Wikipedia
|DATE OF BIRTH=August 7, 1966
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], Alabama, United States
|DATE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales, Jimmy}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American libertarians]]
[[Category:Ashoka USA Fellows-2010]]
[[Category:Auburn University alumni]]
[[Category:Berkman Fellows]]
[[Category:Indiana University alumni]]
[[Category:Objectivists]]
[[Category:People from Huntsville, Alabama]]
[[Category:People from St. Petersburg, Florida]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize]]
[[Category:WEF YGL honorees]]
[[Category:Wikia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees members]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wikipedia people]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:Members of the Creative Commons Board of Directors]]
[[Category:American technology company founders]]
[[Category:UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Internet Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:Critics of alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Winners of The Economist innovation awards]]

Revision as of 03:18, 29 June 2015

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