Jimmy Wales
Organization leader
1966 –
Who is Jimmy Wales?
Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales 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. Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, where he attended Randolph School, a university-preparatory school, then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in finance.
While in graduate school, he taught at two universities, but left before completing a PhD in order to take a job in finance and later worked as the research director of a Chicago 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 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, and 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.
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- Born
- Aug 7, 1966
Huntsville - Also known as
- Jimbo Wales
- The Sole Flounder
- Jimbo
- Jimmy Donal Wales
- Benevolent Dictator for Life
- Funder of Kazakhstan
- Kate Garvey's first husband
- Parents
- Spouses
- Pamela Green
- Christine Rohan
(1997/03 - 2010) - Kate Garvey
(2012/10/06 - )
- Children
- Religion
- Atheism
- Ethnicity
- Caucasian race
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- Randolph School
- Auburn University
- University of Alabama
- Indiana University Bloomington
- Employment
- Co-Founder, Wikia, Inc.
(2004 - ) - Bomis
- Co-Founder, Wikia, Inc.
- Lived in
- Florida
- Huntsville
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
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"Jimmy Wales." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/jimmy_wales>.
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