Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales (born
August 7, 1966) is an American
Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and
promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and the for-profit Wikia
web hosting company.
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| Happy 50th birthday Jimmy. |
Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama,
where he attended Randolph School, a university-preparatory school. Later, he
earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Finance from Auburn
University and the University of Alabama, respectively.
While 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, Illinois,
futures and 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.
Wales serves on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, the non-profit charitable
organization that 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 to name him
in their 2006 list of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World".
