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{{SHORTDESC:Founder of Wikipedia}}'''Jimmy Donal Wales''' (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the nickname '''Jimbo Wales''', is an American and British<ref name=":02">{{cite tweet|user=jimmy_wales|author=Jimmy Wales|number=1173693309115686913|title=I just became a UK citizen, quite happy about that. It occurs to me that perhaps a few MPs should actually take the "Life in the UK" test and study the manual!|date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> [[List of Internet entrepreneurs|Internet entrepreneur]], [[webmaster]], and former [[Trader (finance)|financial trader]].

{{Infobox person|name=Jimmy Wales|image=Jimmy Wales - August 2019 (cropped).jpg|caption=Wales in 2019|birth_name=Jimmy Donal Wales|birth_date=7.8.1966|birth_place=[[Huntsville, Alabama]], U.S.|other_names=Jimbo (screen name)<ref name=Garside-2014-08-03>{{cite news |work = The Observer |url = https://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 |access-date = December 26, 2017 |archive-date = July 10, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170710054015/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/aug/03/observer-profile-jimmy-wales-wikipedia |url-status = live }}</ref>|citizenship={{Ubl|United States|United Kingdom}}|education={{unbulleted list|[[Auburn University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])|[[University of Alabama|University of Alabama]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])|[[Indiana University Bloomington]]}}|occupation=Internet Entrepreneur|title={{unbulleted list|President of [[Fandom (website)|Fandom, Inc.]] (2004–present)|Chair of [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (2003–2006)|Chair emeritus of [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (2006–present)}}|successor=[[Florence Devouard]] (as Chair of Wikimedia Foundation)|boards={{unbulleted list|[[Wikimedia Foundation]]|[[Creative Commons]]|[[Sunlight Foundation]] (advisory board) (until September 2020)|[[MIT Center for Collective Intelligence]] (advisory board)|[[Guardian Media Group]] (until April 2017)<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/25/wikipedia-co-founder-jimmy-wales-exits-guardian-board-conflict/ |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/25/wikipedia-co-founder-jimmy-wales-exits-guardian-board-conflict/ |archive-date = January 11, 2022 |url-access = subscription |url-status = live |title = Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales exits Guardian board over conflict of interest with Wikitribune news site |last = Williams |first = Christopher |date = April 25, 2017 |work = The Telegraph |language = en-GB |issn = 0307-1235 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>}}|spouse={{ubl|{{marriage|Pamela Green|1986|1993|end=div}}|{{marriage|Christine Rohan|1997|2011|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Kate Garvey]]|2012}}}}|children=3|awards=''[[#Distinctions|See below]]''|website={{Official website}}|module={{Listen
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He is a [[Founders of Wikipedia|co-founder]] of the online non-profit encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]] and the for-profit [[wiki hosting service]] [[Fandom (website)|Fandom]] (formerly Wikia). He has worked on other online projects, including [[Bomis]], [[Nupedia]], [[WikiTribune]], and [[WT Social]].

Wales was born in [[Huntsville, Alabama]], United States, where he attended [[Randolph School]], a [[university-preparatory school]]. He earned [[Bachelor's degree|bachelor's]] and [[Master's degree|master's]] degrees in [[finance]] from [[Auburn University]] and the [[University of Alabama]] respectively. In graduate school, Wales taught at two universities; he departed before completing a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] to take a job in finance and later worked as the [[Chief research officer|research director]] of [[Chicago Options Associates]].

In 1996, Wales and two partners founded [[Bomis]], a [[web portal]] primarily known for featuring adult content. Bomis provided the initial funding for the free [[Peer review|peer-reviewed]] encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] (2000–2003). On January 15, 2001, with [[Larry Sanger]] and others, Wales launched Wikipedia, a free [[Open content|open-content]] [[encyclopedia]] that enjoyed rapid growth and popularity. As its public profile grew, Wales became its promoter and spokesman. Though he is historically credited as a co-founder, he has disputed this, declaring himself the sole founder.

Wales serves on the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] Board of Trustees, the charity that he helped establish to operate Wikipedia, holding its board-appointed "community founder" seat. For his role in creating Wikipedia, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' named him one of "[[Time 100|The 100 Most Influential People in the World]]" in 2006.

== Early life and education ==
Wales was born in [[Huntsville, Alabama]], shortly before midnight on August 7, 1966; however, his birth certificate lists his date of birth as August 8.<ref name="Rogoway" /> His father, Jimmy Sr.,<ref name="kazek" /> was a [[grocery store]] manager, while his mother, Doris Ann ({{nee|Dudley}}), and his grandmother, Erma, ran the House of Learning,<ref name="bookstopshere" /><ref name="eofa">{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=Claire M.|title=Jimmy Wales|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2618|access-date=December 26, 2017|website=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]]|archive-date=December 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220034549/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2618|url-status=live}}</ref> a small private school in the tradition of the [[One-room school|one-room schoolhouse]], where Wales and his three siblings received their early education.<ref name="bookstopshere" /><ref name="reasonmag" />

As a child, Wales enjoyed reading.<ref name="Economist2008" /> When he was three, in 1968, his mother bought a ''[[World Book Encyclopedia]]'' from a door-to-door salesman. As he grew up and learned to read, it became an object of reverence, but Wales soon discovered that the ''World Book'' had shortcomings: No matter how much was in it, there were many more things that were not. ''World Book'' sent out stickers for owners to paste on the pages to update the encyclopedia, and Wales was careful to put the stickers to work, stating, "I joke that I started as a kid revising the encyclopedia by stickering the one my mother bought."<ref name="kazek" /><ref>{{Cite news|author=Walter Isaacson|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/you-can-look-it-up-the-wikipedia-story|title=You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story|journal=The Daily Beast|date=October 19, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613013448/https://www.thedailybeast.com/you-can-look-it-up-the-wikipedia-story|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica|Britannica]]'' 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 combined 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). "[https://discover.randolphschool.net/blog/k12/2013/01/07/wales Jimmy Wales '83: 'Information evangelist'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005206/https://discover.randolphschool.net/blog/k12/2013/01/07/wales|date=October 31, 2018}}", Randolph School. Retrieved August 12, 2014.</ref><ref>"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dc617 Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416035948/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dc617|date=April 16, 2015}}". BBC Radio 4. March 18, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Todd Chambers' answer to [Pictures or it didn't happen] what was jimmy wales' high school life like?|newspaper=Quora|url=https://www.quora.com/Pictures-or-it-didnt-happen-what-was-jimmy-wales-high-school-life-like/answer/Todd-Rush-Chambers|publisher=www.quora.com|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810210538/https://www.quora.com/Pictures-or-it-didnt-happen-what-was-jimmy-wales-high-school-life-like/answer/Todd-Rush-Chambers|url-status=live}}</ref> a university-preparatory school in Huntsville, graduating at sixteen.<ref name="trend" /> He 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. He began his Auburn education when he was 16 years old.<ref name="eofa" /> He 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" /> At the University of Alabama, he played Internet fantasy games and developed his interest in the web.<ref name="eofa" /> 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|The staff of Wales' Internet company [[Bomis]] photographed in summer 2000. Wales is third from the left in the back row, with Christine Rohan.]]
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, writing 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|webrings]] 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=https://www.wired.com/2005/12/wikipedia-founder-edits-own-bio/|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=May 30, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530041136/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69880|url-status=live}}</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 at the time 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]] 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' 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|peer-reviewed]], [[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 to make a 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" />

{{blockquote|||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 recollected 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=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Vu69Ajtlk|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/X9Vu69Ajtlk|archive-date=December 21, 2021|url-status=live|format=SWF, FLV, FLASH|medium=Videotape|publisher=Yale University|location=New Haven, Connecticut, United States|access-date=August 18, 2011|time=43:19}}{{cbignore}}</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]]|float=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 |publisher = [[TED (conference)]] |date = July 2005 |url = https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia#t-650375 |access-date = December 26, 2017 |last1 = Wales |first1 = Jimmy |archive-date = May 7, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190507124958/https://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia#t-650375 |url-status = live }}</ref>|video2=[https://www.c-span.org/video/?188855-1/qa-jimmy-wales ''Q&A'' interview with Jimmy Wales], [[C-SPAN]], 2005<ref name="qanda"/>|video3=[//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 |publisher = [[Maastricht University]] on YouTube |date = January 2015 |url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pKIi3LuUBg |access-date = December 26, 2017 |archive-date = August 10, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220810210612/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pKIi3LuUBg |url-status = live }}</ref>|video4=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJp4zoQPqo Interview with Wales], ''[[Lex Fridman Podcast]]'', 2023<ref name="LFP Wales">{{cite web |title=Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia - Lex Fridman Podcast #385 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJp4zoQPqo |website=YouTube |publisher=[[Lex Fridman Podcast]] |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=August 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811144408/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJp4zoQPqo |url-status=live }}</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|chapter-url={{GBurl|id=q9GnNrq3e5EC|p=312}}|date=November 1, 2005|publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc.|isbn=978-0-596-00802-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/opensources20con0000unse/page/312 312]|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...|url=https://archive.org/details/opensources20con0000unse/page/312}}</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 awaken 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=978-1-59184-231-6|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" /> In a talk at [[SXSW]] in 2016, he recalled that he wrote the first words on Wikipedia: "[[Hello world]]", a phrase computer programmers often use to test new software.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/wikipedias-first-words-hello-world-2016-3|title=The first words on Wikipedia were a nerdy programmer in-joke|website=Business Insider|date=March 13, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Carson, Biz|archive-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226182140/http://www.businessinsider.com/wikipedias-first-words-hello-world-2016-3|url-status=live}}</ref>

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{{nbsp}}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 non-profit 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|author-link1=Irina Slutsky|last2=Codel|first2=Eddie|date=March 24, 2006|publisher=Geek Entertainment TV|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222041408/http://www.geekentertainment.tv/2006/03/24/sxsw2006-jimmy-wales-uber-wikipedian/|archive-date=December 22, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
Wales has said 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 statement "preposterous" in February 2006,<ref name="David Mehegan" /> and called "the whole debate" "silly" in an April 2009 interview.<ref name="William Paoletto" /> In 2013, Wales told ''The New York Times'' that the dispute is "the dumbest controversy in the history of the world".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Spence|first=Madeleine|date=August 1, 2021|title=Larry Sanger: 'I wouldn't trust Wikipedia — and I helped to invent it'|language=en|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx|access-date=August 1, 2021|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=August 1, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210801095207/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/larry-sanger-i-wouldnt-trust-wikipedia-and-i-helped-to-invent-it-cflrhmdhx|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2023, Wales told [[Lex Fridman]] that:<ref name="transcript">{{Cite web|last=Fridman|first=Lex|date=2023-06-18|title=Transcript for Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia {{!}} Lex Fridman Podcast #385|url=https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/|access-date=2023-06-18|website=Lex Fridman|language=en-US|archive-date=October 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014181329/https://lexfridman.com/jimmy-wales-transcript/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Quote|text=I actually think Larry Sanger doesn't get enough credit for his early work in Wikipedia, even though I think co-founder's not the right title for that. So he had a lot of impact and a lot of great work, and I disagree about a lot of things since and all that, and that's fine. So yeah. No, to me that's like, it's one of these things that the media love a falling out story, so they want to make a big deal out of it, and I'm just like, yeah, no.}}

In late 2005, Wales edited his 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 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 [[Queen of the United Kingdom]] [[Elizabeth II]], he has no real power.<ref name="Garside-2014-08-03" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Cadwalladr|first=Carole|url=https://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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518034803/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-interview|url-status=live}}</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 before 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">{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Jennifer Joline|page=76|title=Wikipedia: The Company and Its Founders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ql0ic5dTmgC&pg=PA76|edition=1st|publisher=Abdo Group|year=2011|isbn=978-1-61714-812-5|access-date=February 24, 2016|archive-date=February 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216014625/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ql0ic5dTmgC&pg=PA76|url-status=live}}</ref> Wales was fairly hands-off.<ref name="Anderson2011" /> 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|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 about Wikipedia were moved to the new foundation,<ref name="telegraph" /> whose purpose is to support 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 "[[Wikimedia Foundation#Board of trustees|community founder's seat]]" that was installed in 2008.<ref name="terdiman" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Bylaws#ARTICLE_IV_-_THE_BOARD_OF_TRUSTEES|title=Bylaws – Wikimedia Foundation|date=August 5, 2008|website=wikimediafoundation.org|language=en|access-date=December 26, 2017|quote=(F) Community Founder Trustee Position. The Board may appoint Jimmy Wales as Community Founder Trustee for a three-year term. The Board may reappoint Wales as Community Founder Trustee for successive three-year terms (without a term limit). In the event that Wales is not appointed as Community Founder Trustee, the position will remain vacant, and the Board shall not fill the vacancy.|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225172741/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Bylaws#ARTICLE_IV_-_THE_BOARD_OF_TRUSTEES|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees#Structure|title=Board of Trustees – Wikimedia Foundation|website=wikimediafoundation.org|language=en|access-date=December 26, 2017|quote=Since 2008, the Board has seats for ten Trustees: one founder's seat (reserved for Jimmy Wales); two seats selected by the Wikimedia chapters and thematic organizations; three seats nominated by the Wikimedia community; and four seats appointed by the rest of the Board|archive-date=August 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819202216/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees#Structure|url-status=live}}</ref> 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}}{{nbsp}}billion but on the other hand, he weighed his belief that the donation made its success possible.<ref name="NEWSCMARKS" /><ref name="telegraph" /><ref name="dw-world" /><ref name="ioltechnology" /> In 2020, Wales said that "I view my role as being very much like the [[Elizabeth II|modern monarch of the UK]]: no real power, but the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn."<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine|last=Garfield|first=Simon|date=October 20, 2020|title=What We Know And Can Agree On: Wikipedia At 20|url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a34412278/wikipedia-at-20/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020200836/https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a34412278/wikipedia-at-20/|archive-date=October 20, 2020|access-date=February 16, 2021|magazine=[[Esquire Magazine]]}}</ref>

Wales gives an annual "State of the Wiki" address at the [[Wikimania]] conference.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://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|website=The Verge|date=July 15, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Toor, Amar|archive-date=July 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708195532/https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/15/3160926/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-gender-gap-kate-middleton-wedding-dress|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 statement 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 pocket; in private, Devouard upbraided Wales for "constantly trying to rewrite the past".<ref name="ryan" />

Later in March 2008, former [[Novell]] [[computer scientist]] Jeff Merkey said 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" /> In early 2016, Wikipedia editors perceived the WMF's [[Knowledge Engine (Wikimedia Foundation)|Knowledge Engine]] project as a [[conflict of interest]] for Wales, whose business Wikia might benefit from having the WMF spend a lot of money on research in respect to search.<ref name="Mullin2016">{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301082152/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/|archive-date=March 1, 2016|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/|title=Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over "Knowledge Engine"|last=Mullin|first=Joe|date=February 29, 2016|work=[[Ars Technica]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wikia attempted to develop a search engine but it was closed in 2009.<ref name="Mullin2016" />

=== Wikia and later pursuits ===
In 2004, Wales and then-fellow member of the [[Wikimedia Foundation|WMF]] Board of Trustees Angela Beesley founded the for-profit company [[Wikia]].<ref name="2.0" /> Wikia is a [[wiki farm]]{{mdash}}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{{nbsp}}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 watchmaker [[Maurice Lacroix]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Rębała|first=Monika|title=Król Encyklopedii|url=http://www.newsweek.pl/artykuly/krol-encyklopedii,70199,2|access-date=July 5, 2011|newspaper=Newsweek Polska|date=January 8, 2011|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806081758/http://www.newsweek.pl/artykuly/krol-encyklopedii%2C70199%2C2|archive-date=August 6, 2011|url-status=dead}}</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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124072626/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016kgfd|date=November 24, 2020}}, 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|access-date=December 26, 2017|newspaper=BBC Question Time|date=November 23, 2011|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810210649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/question_time/9645839.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2012, it was reported that Wales was advising the U.K. 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=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/01/wikipedia-research-jimmy-wales-online|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=May 1, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=January 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114184428/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/01/wikipedia-research-jimmy-wales-online|url-status=live}}</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=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/10583554/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-backs-viral-mobile-network-The-Peoples-Operator.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/10583554/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-backs-viral-mobile-network-The-Peoples-Operator.html|archive-date=January 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales backs 'viral mobile network' The People's Operator|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=January 20, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</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|website=Clinton Global Initiative|date=March 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323194545/http://www.cgiu.org/meetings/2014/agenda.asp?day=1|archive-date=March 23, 2014|access-date=March 23, 2014|url-status=dead}}</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|website=[[Washington Examiner]]|date=March 22, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=July 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725184045/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/bill-clinton-defends-american-control-of-internet-domain-name-system/article/2546105|url-status=live}}</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 Google's being inundated with requests to remove websites from their search results. Wales said he wanted the committee to be viewed as "a [[Blue-ribbon committee|blue-ribbon panel]]" by lawmakers and for the committee to advise the lawmakers as well as Google.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fleischer|first=Lisa|url=https://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"|website=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=May 30, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=July 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709234808/https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/05/30/google-taps-wikipedias-wales-to-help-weigh-right-to-be-forgotten/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, Wales announced that he was launching an online publication called [[WikiTribune]], to fight fake news through a combination of professional journalists and volunteer contributors. Wales described it as "news by the people and for the people", and that it will be the "first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will work side-by-side as equals writing stories as they happen, editing them live as they develop, and at all times backed by a community checking and rechecking all facts".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/25/wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-to-fight-fake-news-with-new-wikitribune-site|last=Hern|first=Alex|title=Wikipedia co-founder launches Wikitribune to eradicate fake news|work=The Guardian|date=April 25, 2017|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=May 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520003528/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/25/wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-to-fight-fake-news-with-new-wikitribune-site|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2019, Wales launched an ad-free social network, [[WT Social]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales launches Twitter and Facebook rival|url=https://www.ft.com/content/9956ff9c-0622-11ea-a984-fbbacad9e7dd|access-date=November 16, 2019|work=[[Financial Times]]|archive-date=November 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117081307/https://www.ft.com/content/9956ff9c-0622-11ea-a984-fbbacad9e7dd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Want an Ad-Free Social Network? Wikipedia's Co-Founder Made One|url=https://uk.pcmag.com/mastodon/123604/want-an-ad-free-social-network-wikipedias-co-founder-made-one|access-date=November 16, 2019|work=[[PCMag UK]]|date=November 15, 2019|language=en|archive-date=November 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116010503/https://uk.pcmag.com/mastodon/123604/want-an-ad-free-social-network-wikipedias-co-founder-made-one|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Jimmy Wales Foundation for Freedom of Expression is a UK-based charity established by Wales to fight against [[human rights violations]] in the field of [[freedom of expression]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Charlie|date=September 4, 2015|title=Jimmy Wales on Censorship in China|work=The Huffington Post|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-smith/jimmy-wales-on-censorship_b_8087400.html|access-date=March 8, 2017|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322084555/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-smith/jimmy-wales-on-censorship_b_8087400.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jpost">{{cite news|title=Jimmy Wales wants Wikipedia to change the world, again|work=The Jerusalem Post|url=http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Jimmy-Wales-wants-Wikipedia-to-change-the-world-again-403592|access-date=March 8, 2017|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012102843/https://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Jimmy-Wales-wants-Wikipedia-to-change-the-world-again-403592|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=October 21, 2016|title=Wikipedia founder joins worldwide chorus in support of Zunar|work=Free Malaysia Today|url=http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/10/21/wikipedia-founder-joins-worldwide-chorus-in-support-of-zunar/|access-date=March 8, 2017|archive-date=August 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811103736/http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/10/21/wikipedia-founder-joins-worldwide-chorus-in-support-of-zunar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wales founded the charity after receiving a prize from the leader of [[Dubai]], which he felt he could not accept given the strict censorship laws there, but claims he was not allowed to give back.<ref name="jpost" /> As of 2016, the charity's CEO is Orit Kopel.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wales|first1=Jimmy|last2=Kopel|first2=Orit|date=March 16, 2016|title=Jimmy Wales: 'The world needs to ask: #whereisBassel?'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/mar/16/jimmy-wales-the-world-needs-to-ask-whereisbassel|access-date=August 11, 2017|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=September 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918020326/https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/mar/16/jimmy-wales-the-world-needs-to-ask-whereisbassel|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Political and economic views ==

=== Personal philosophy ===
[[File:JimmyWalesJI5.jpg|left|thumb|Wales at a [[Creative Commons]] board meeting in June 2008]]
Wales has previously referred to himself as an [[Objectivism|Objectivist]],<ref name="fastcompany" /> referring to the philosophy of 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" />
[[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]]]]
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 in the United States|libertarian]], qualifying his remark by referring to the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] as "lunatics", and citing "freedom, liberty, basically individual rights, that idea of dealing with other people in a manner 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]]".<ref name="reasonmag" /> 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 [[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=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-the-internets-shy-evangelist-2374679.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-the-internets-shy-evangelist-2374679.html|archive-date=June 9, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|date=October 23, 2011|title=Jimmy Wales: The internet's shy evangelist|work=The Independent|location=London|access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> [[Dan Hodges]] in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' has described Wales as a "[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] sympathizer".<ref name="telegraphwhydidedmiliband">[[Dan Hodges|Hodges, Dan]], "[https://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?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929000430/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11607869/Why-did-Ed-Miliband-refuse-the-help-of-Jimmy-Wales.html|date=September 29, 2018}}", ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' (London), May 15, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2017.</ref> In 2015, he offered to help [[Ed Miliband]] with the Labour Party's social media strategy, but Miliband turned him down.<ref name="telegraphwhydidedmiliband" /> In 2015, Wales signed up as the committee chair for Democrat [[Lawrence Lessig]]'s [[Lawrence Lessig presidential campaign, 2016|2016 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/17/jimbo_wikipedia_wales_leads_lawrence_lessigs_presidential_push/|title=Jimbo 'Wikipedia' Wales leads Lawrence Lessig's presidential push|website=The Register|date=August 17, 2015|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Sharwood, Simon|archive-date=October 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023133138/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/17/jimbo_wikipedia_wales_leads_lawrence_lessigs_presidential_push/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, Wales and eleven other business leaders signed on to an open letter to American voters urging them not to vote for [[Donald Trump]] in that year's [[2016 United States presidential election|presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2016/10/07/why-joseph-kopser-11-other-national-business.html|title=Why Joseph Kopser, 11 other national business leaders oppose Donald Trump|work=Austin Business Journal|date=October 7, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Barr, Greg|archive-date=May 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506100527/http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2016/10/07/why-joseph-kopser-11-other-national-business.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2017, Wales said on [[Quora]] that he is a [[centrist]] and a [[gradualist]], and believes "that slow step-by-step change is better and more sustainable and allows us to test new things with a minimum of difficult disruption in society."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quora.com/Where-is-Jimmy-Wales-on-the-political-compass|title=Where is Jimmy Wales on the political compass? – Quora|website=www.quora.com|language=en|access-date=September 2, 2018|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810210625/https://www.quora.com/Where-is-Jimmy-Wales-on-the-political-compass|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2022, Wales said that he did not identify with any particular political label.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mangu-Ward|first=Katherine|date=April 28, 2022|title=Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Has Already Solved the Internet's Problems|url=https://reason.com/video/2022/04/28/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-has-already-solved-the-internets-problems/|access-date=May 7, 2022|website=Reason.com|language=en-US|archive-date=May 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506225342/https://reason.com/video/2022/04/28/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-has-already-solved-the-internets-problems/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Development and management of Wikipedia ===
[[File:Jimbo_at_Bengali_Wikipedia_10th_anniversary_celebration_gala_event,_Dhaka_(03).JPG|left|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 collective development and free distribution of [[Free software|software]]. He was particularly moved by "[[The Cathedral and the Bazaar]]", an essay which was later adapted into a [[The Cathedral and the Bazaar|book of the same name]], 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", and he states that the idea that "participating in a benevolent effort to share information is somehow destroying your own values makes no sense to me".<ref name="karasz" /> {{clearleft}}

=== 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 name="govinfo">{{cite web|title=S. Hrg. 110-894 - E-Government 2.0: Improving Innovation, Collaboration, and Access|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-110shrg40507/CHRG-110shrg40507|website=GovInfo.gov|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=28 June 2023|date=11 December 2007|archive-date=June 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628215646/https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-110shrg40507/CHRG-110shrg40507|url-status=live}}</ref> He also submitted written testimony to the Senate Committee entitled "E-Government 2.0: Improving Innovation, Collaboration and Access".{{r|govinfo|pp=85-90}}

=== 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 news|last=Lee|first=Dave|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27407017|title=Google ruling 'astonishing', says Wikipedia founder Wales|work=BBC News|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913132334/http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27407017|url-status=live}}</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=https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/07/wales-on-right-to-be-forgotten/?ncid=tcdaily|website=TechCrunch|publisher=AOL Inc|access-date=June 9, 2014|date=June 8, 2014|archive-date=June 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612002627/http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/07/wales-on-right-to-be-forgotten/?ncid=tcdaily|url-status=live}}</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. Google's [[Larry Page]] stated 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|quote=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" />}}

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 ===
[[File:Fake_News_versus_Real_Politics_(39196356574).jpg|left|thumb|Wales at the 2018 [[World Economic Forum]] in [[Davos]]]]
The January/February 2006 issue of ''[[Maximum PC]]'' reported that Wales refused to comply with a request from the [[PRC|People's Republic of China]] to [[Great Firewall|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=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h88Z4oCWBfdZ_KGxXLSowK3RYUNw?docId=CNG.bf57684dba4b5bc4d7503b36b06a8e30.941|title=Wikipedia co-founder slams Wikileaks|agency=Agence France-Presse|access-date=September 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001172837/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h88Z4oCWBfdZ_KGxXLSowK3RYUNw?docId=CNG.bf57684dba4b5bc4d7503b36b06a8e30.941|archive-date=October 1, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> "What they're doing is not really a wiki. The essence of wiki is a collaborative editing process".<ref>{{cite news|last=Burrell|first=Ian|title=Jimmy Wales: 'It's not about how many pages. It's about how good they are'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-its-not-about-how-many-pages-its-about-how-good-they-are-2164840.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jimmy-wales-its-not-about-how-many-pages-its-about-how-good-they-are-2164840.html|archive-date=June 9, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=April 13, 2019|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|date=December 20, 2010}}</ref>

In 2012, the [[Home Secretary]] of the U.K. was petitioned by Wales regarding his opposition to the extradition of [[Richard O'Dwyer]] to the US.<ref name="Ball">{{cite news|last=Ball|first=James|title=Wikipedia's founder calls for Richard O'Dwyer extradition to be stopped|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/24/wikipedia-founder-richard-odwyer-extradition-stopped|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=July 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710053531/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/24/wikipedia-founder-richard-odwyer-extradition-stopped|url-status=live}}</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 U.K. 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=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/nov/28/wikipedia-extradiction-law-review-odwyer|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=November 28, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226235422/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/nov/28/wikipedia-extradiction-law-review-odwyer|url-status=live}}</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://www.xbiz.com/news/169017/wikipedia-gives-porn-a-break|publisher=XBIZ|date=September 17, 2013|first=Lila|last=Gray|title=Wikipedia Gives Porn a Break|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227121852/http://www.xbiz.com/news/169017/wikipedia-gives-porn-a-break|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2013, Wales also commented on the [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|Snowden affair]], describing [[Edward Snowden]] as "a hero" whom history would judge "very favourably"; additionally, Wales said the US 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=https://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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=March 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329125030/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/edward-snowden-nsa-wikipedia-founder|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Gamergate controversy]] in 2014, in response to an email from a [[computer science]] student claiming that Wikipedia has a "complete lack of any sort of attempt at neutrality regarding Gamergate", Wales allegedly wrote: "It is very difficult for me to buy into the notion that gamergate is 'really about ethics in journalism' when every single experience I have personally had with it involved pro-gg people insulting, threatening, [[doxxing]], etc." and that the movement "has been permanently tarnished and highjacked [sic] by a handful of people who are not what you would hope."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Van Winkle|first=Dan|date=December 19, 2014|title=Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Not Taking Gamergate's Crap|url=https://www.themarysue.com/jimmy-wales-not-taking-gamergate-crap/|access-date=February 16, 2021|website=[[The Mary Sue]]|language=en|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303042151/https://www.themarysue.com/jimmy-wales-not-taking-gamergate-crap/|url-status=live}}</ref> Wales defended his comments in response to backlash from supporters of Gamergate, saying that "it isn't about what I believe. Gg is famous for harassment. Stop and think about why."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nissim|first=Mayer|date=December 20, 2014|title=Jimmy Wales replies to GamerGate criticism|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a617618/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-replies-to-gamergate-criticism/|access-date=July 10, 2022|website=Digital Spy|language=en-GB|archive-date=July 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710195142/https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a617618/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-replies-to-gamergate-criticism/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2019, Wales accused Twitter of giving preferential treatment to high-profile figures such as Trump and [[Elon Musk]] for not banning or blocking them for their controversial statements.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Randerson|first=James|date=November 26, 2019|title=Jimmy Wales: Twitter should ban Trump|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/jimmy-wales-twitter-should-ban-trump/|access-date=April 19, 2021|website=Politico|language=en-US|archive-date=April 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419203535/https://www.politico.eu/article/jimmy-wales-twitter-should-ban-trump/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2020, Wales criticized Trump for threatening to regulate social media companies.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Srikanth|first=Chandra R.|date=May 28, 2020|title=Donald Trump is a lunatic: Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/donald-trump-is-a-lunatic-wikipedia-co-founder-jimmy-wales/articleshow/76073253.cms|access-date=August 6, 2021|archive-date=August 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806232834/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/donald-trump-is-a-lunatic-wikipedia-co-founder-jimmy-wales/articleshow/76073253.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2021, Wales said that [[Facebook]] and Twitter should combat [[misinformation]] and [[abuse]] on their platforms by deploying volunteer moderators to monitor controversial posts.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Milmo|first=Dan|date=September 23, 2021|title=Facebook and Twitter 'should use volunteer moderators' says Wikipedia founder|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/23/facebook-and-twitter-should-use-volunteer-moderators-says-jimmy-wales|access-date=September 23, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=September 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923191046/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/23/facebook-and-twitter-should-use-volunteer-moderators-says-jimmy-wales|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2021, Wales said that "Protecting strong [[encryption]] is essential for protecting the human rights of millions of people around the world."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Butcher|first=Mike|date=October 21, 2021|title=Watch Edward Snowden launch Global Encryption Day, live today|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2021/10/21/watch-edward-snowden-launch-global-encryption-day-live-today/|access-date=October 24, 2021|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810210704/https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/21/watch-edward-snowden-launch-global-encryption-day-live-today/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2022, in response to [[Proposed acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk|Elon Musk's proposed acquisition of Twitter]], Wales said that "I think he's got some good and bad ideas, based on his public statements", adding that "On the other hand, Twitter in five years' time could be much better than it is today, or Twitter could be dead in five years' time, depending on the decisions he makes."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wood|first=Tom|date=May 17, 2022|title=Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Says Twitter 'Could Be Dead In Five Years' Under Elon Musk's Leadership|url=https://www.ladbible.com/news/wikipedia-founder-says-twitter-could-be-dead-in-five-years-20220516|access-date=May 28, 2022|website=[[LADbible Group]]|language=en|archive-date=May 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528103747/https://www.ladbible.com/news/wikipedia-founder-says-twitter-could-be-dead-in-five-years-20220516|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Wales stated on Wikipedia that the consensus in the mainstream media surrounding the [[lab leak theory]] seemed to have shifted from "this is highly unlikely, and only conspiracy theorists are pushing this narrative" to "this is one of the plausible hypotheses."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ryan|first=Jackson|date=June 24, 2021|title=Inside Wikipedia's endless war over the coronavirus lab leak theory|url=https://www.cnet.com/features/inside-wikipedias-endless-war-over-the-coronavirus-lab-leak-theory/|access-date=June 27, 2021|website=CNET|language=en|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627021622/https://www.cnet.com/features/inside-wikipedias-endless-war-over-the-coronavirus-lab-leak-theory/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wales has visited [[Israel]] over ten times. He has said that he is "a strong supporter of Israel". In 2015, he was awarded one of the Dan David Prizes, an international award of $1{{nbsp}}million given yearly at Tel Aviv University (10 percent of the prize goes to doctoral students); Wales was chosen for spearheading what the prize committee called the "information revolution."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sales|first=Ben|title=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales likes Israel but stays neutral|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-likes-israel-but-stays-neutral/|access-date=November 21, 2021|website=[[Times of Israel]]|language=en-US|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121032918/https://www.timesofisrael.com/wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-likes-israel-but-stays-neutral/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Christine_and_Jimmy_Wales.jpg|thumb|Wales with his second wife, Christine Rohan]]
Wales has been married three times. At the age of 20, he married Pamela Green,<ref name="Chozick-2013-06-30">{{cite news|last=Chozick|first=Amy|author-link=Amy Chozick|title=Jimmy Wales Is Not an Internet Billionaire|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/jimmy-wales-is-not-an-internet-billionaire.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=June 30, 2013|access-date=October 31, 2018|archive-date=June 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630200950/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/jimmy-wales-is-not-an-internet-billionaire.html|url-status=live}}</ref> a co-worker at a grocery store in Alabama.<ref name="karasz" /> They divorced in 1993.<ref name="eofa" /> He met his second wife, Christine Rohan, through a friend in Chicago while she worked as a steel trader for [[Mitsubishi]].<ref name="qanda" /><ref name="trend" /> They were married in [[Monroe County, Florida]], in March 1997,<ref>{{cite book|title=Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia|url=https://archive.org/details/jimmywaleswikipe0000meye|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Rosen Publishing]]|author=Meyer, Susan|year=2013|page=[https://archive.org/details/jimmywaleswikipe0000meye/page/27 27]|isbn=978-1-4488-6912-1}}</ref> and had a daughter before separating in 2008.<ref name="Chozick-2013-06-30" /><ref name="qanda" /><ref name="karasz" /> Wales moved to [[San Diego]] in 1998, and after becoming disillusioned with the housing market there, moved in 2002 to [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name="trend" /><ref name="seattle" /><ref name="Lewine" />

He had a brief relationship with [[Conservatism in Canada|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]], he stated that there had been a relationship but that it was over and that it had not influenced any matters on Wikipedia,<ref name="Sydney Morning Herald" /><ref name="USATODAY" /> a statement Marsden disputed.<ref name="agrell" />

Wales married [[Kate Garvey]] at [[Wesley's Chapel]] in [[London]] on October 6, 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Donnelly|first=Laura|date=October 6, 2012|title=Wiki wedding: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales marries Tony Blair's former aide|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9591824/Wiki-wedding-Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-marries-Tony-Blairs-former-aide.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9591824/Wiki-wedding-Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-marries-Tony-Blairs-former-aide.html|archive-date=January 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=December 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Garvey is [[Tony Blair]]'s former [[diary secretary]]; the couple 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|access-date=January 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120164932/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24028957-mr-wikipedia-on-todays-blackout-moving-to-london-and-marrying-a-blair-babe.do|archive-date=January 20, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wales has three daughters: one with Rohan and two with Garvey.<ref name="Garside-2014-08-03" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-life-in-the-day-jimmy-wales-d9nc39bbb|title=A life in the day: Jimmy Wales|last=Jaffé-Pearce|first=Michèle|date=March 12, 2017|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|access-date=June 8, 2018|issn=0956-1382|quote=He lives in west London with his third wife, Kate Garvey, a former aide to Tony Blair, and daughters Ada, 5, and Jemima, 3. Kira, 16, his daughter with his second wife, lives in Florida.|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141744/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-life-in-the-day-jimmy-wales-d9nc39bbb|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wales is of Jewish descent<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jimmy Wales|url=https://www.foundationforjewishheritage.com/friends/jimmy-wales|access-date=2023-12-13|website=Fdn Jewish Heritage|language=en|archive-date=December 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213180234/https://www.foundationforjewishheritage.com/friends/jimmy-wales|url-status=live}}</ref> but an [[Atheism|atheist]]. In an interview with [[Big Think]], he said his philosophy is firmly rooted in [[reason]], and that he is a complete non-believer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jimmy Wales|url=http://bigthink.com/videos/what-do-you-believe-25|newspaper=Big Think|publisher=[[Big Think]] Media|access-date=December 26, 2017|date=August 10, 2007|quote=I'm a complete non-believer.|archive-date=November 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111213839/http://bigthink.com/videos/what-do-you-believe-25|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wales has lived in London, England since 2012.<ref name="hough">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9137339/Jimmy-Wales-Wikipedia-chief-to-advise-Whitehall-on-policy.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9137339/Jimmy-Wales-Wikipedia-chief-to-advise-Whitehall-on-policy.html|archive-date=January 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia chief to advise Whitehall on policy|last=Hough|first=Stephen|date=March 11, 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=December 26, 2017|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He became a [[British citizen]] in 2019.<ref name=":0">{{cite tweet|user=jimmy_wales|author=Jimmy Wales|number=1173693309115686913|title=I just became a UK citizen, quite happy about that. It occurs to me that perhaps a few MPs should actually take the "Life in the UK" test and study the manual!|date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> In 2021, on [[Tim Ferriss|''The Tim Ferriss Show'']] podcast, he revealed that he secretly moved to [[Argentina]] for one month after reading Ferriss's book ''[[The 4-Hour Workweek]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Stephen|date=September 6, 2021|title=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he secretly lived in Argentina for a month after reading 'The 4-Hour Workweek' by Tim Ferriss|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-wales-secretly-lived-argentina-tim-ferriss-4-hour-workweek-2021-9|access-date=September 16, 2021|website=[[Business Insider]]|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916202318/https://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-wales-secretly-lived-argentina-tim-ferriss-4-hour-workweek-2021-9|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wales says that he is a passionate chef.<ref name=":1" />

== Publications ==

* {{cite journal|last=Brooks|first=Robert|author2-given=Jon|author2-surname=Corson|author3-given=Jimmy Donal|author3-surname=Wales|year=1994|ssrn=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-given=Andrea|author2-surname=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=978-0-470-74014-9|oclc=233939846|url=https://archive.org/details/throwingsheepinb00fras|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite news|first=Jimmy|last=Wales|author2-given=Andrea|author2-surname=Weckerle|title=Commentary: Create a tech-friendly U.S. government|agency=CNN|date=January 8, 2009|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/07/wales.obama.cto/|access-date=December 29, 2009|archive-date=August 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816141243/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/07/wales.obama.cto/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2-given=Andrea|author2-surname=Weckerle|contribution=Foreword|title=33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking|url=https://archive.org/details/33millionpeoplei0000powe|url-access=registration|editor1-first=Juliette|editor1-last=Powell|editor1-link=Juliette Powell|publisher=[[Financial Times Press]]|edition=1st|date=February 10, 2009|isbn=978-0-13-715435-7|oclc=244066502}}
* {{cite book|last=Wales|first=Jimmy|author2-given=Andrea|author2-surname=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=978-0-470-41097-4|oclc=244060887}}
* {{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=[[Hachette Books|Hyperion]]|edition=1st|date=March 17, 2009|isbn=978-1-4013-0371-6|oclc=232977686|title-link=The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia}}

== Distinctions ==
[[File:293_GD-Preis_5524_crop.jpg|thumb|Wales at the 2011 [[Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute#Prize|Gottlieb Duttweiler Awards]] Show]]
[[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_Prize.jpg|thumb|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|''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="Dare to Share": From Individual to Collective Knowledge|language=de|publisher=Leonardo-award.eu|date=September 21, 2011|access-date=July 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214093506/http://www.leonardo-award.eu/content/e677/e678/e682/e683/e820/index_eng.html|archive-date=December 14, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> in 2011,<ref name="gd-prize">{{cite web|url=http://www.gdi.ch/en/Think-Tank/JIMMY-WALES-RECEIVES-THE-GOTTLIEB-DUTTWEILER-PRIZE|title=GD Prize 2011|publisher=Gdi.ch|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226234910/http://www.gdi.ch/en/Think-Tank/JIMMY-WALES-RECEIVES-THE-GOTTLIEB-DUTTWEILER-PRIZE|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Isobel Leybold-Johnson. "[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/-knowledge-is-our-most-important-resource-/29339594 Knowledge is our most important resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717142614/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/-knowledge-is-our-most-important-resource-/29339594|date=July 17, 2017}}". [[Swissinfo]] January 27, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2017.</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]]|access-date=May 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531171759/http://www.21.edu.ar/identidad21-publicacion-ampliada.html?id=51|archive-date=May 31, 2011|url-status=dead}}</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.|access-date=June 22, 2011|author-link=MIREA|archive-date=February 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226170244/https://www.mirea.ru/|url-status=live}}</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" emphasized 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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203050049/http://bohr-conference2013.ku.dk/documents/programme_1.pdf/|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018041730/https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2013/2013.10/free_exchange_of_information_can_avert_technological_threats/|url-status=live}}</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|website=CBS News|date=June 26, 2013|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Ngak, Chenda|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822134818/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aaron-swartz-among-inductees-to-internet-hall-of-fame/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In February 2014, Wales was named one of "25 Web Superstars" by ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Curtis|first=Sophie|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10665375/25-years-of-the-World-Wide-Web-25-Web-superstars.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10665375/25-years-of-the-World-Wide-Web-25-Web-superstars.html|archive-date=January 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=25 years of the World Wide Web: 25 Web superstars|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On May 17, 2014, Wales was awarded a [[Doctorate Honoris Causa]] by the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the {{lang|it|[[Università della Svizzera italiana]]|italic=no}} (USI Lugano, Switzerland).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newmine.blogspot.ch/2014/05/jimmy-wales-doctor-honoris-causa-in.html|title=Jimmy Wales doctor honoris causa in Communication Sciences|publisher=ELearning + ETourism (blog of Lorenzo Cantoni, dean of the Faculty)|date=May 17, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|last1=Cantoni|first1=Lorenzo|archive-date=June 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629225204/http://newmine.blogspot.ch/2014/05/jimmy-wales-doctor-honoris-causa-in.html|url-status=live}}</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 news|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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713090005/http://news.stv.tv/scotland/280548-scotland-tonight-wikipedia-founder-jimmy-wales-honoured-in-glasgow/|archive-date=July 13, 2014|url-status=dead}}</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 news|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|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=October 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022033319/https://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/tech4good-awards-celebrate-digital-inclusion-148925|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tech4goodawards.com/winners-2014/|title=Tech4Good Awards 2014 Winners|publisher=Tech4Good Awards|date=July 10, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918093424/https://www.tech4goodawards.com/winners-2014/|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2014, Wales shared the inaugural $1{{nbsp}}million [[Mohammed bin Rashid Knowledge Award]] with [[World Wide Web]] inventor [[Sir Tim Berners-Lee]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Shabandri|first=Muaz|date=December 8, 2014|url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20141208/ARTICLE/312089863/1002|title=Web inventor, Wiki co-founder share $1m Knowledge Award|work=khaleejtimes.com|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226235451/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20141208/ARTICLE/312089863/1002|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In January 2015, [[Maastricht University]] awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa 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]]|access-date=November 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224075637/http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Main1/SiteWide/SiteWide11/MaastrichtUniversityAwardsHonoraryDoctoratesToFransTimmermansAndWikipediaFounderJimmyWales.htm|archive-date=December 24, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> On April 25, 2015, Wales received the [[Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service]] along with [[Jon Bon Jovi]] and [[Edward Norton]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bonjovi.com/photos-from-the-36th-annual-common-wealth-awards/|title=Photos from the 36th Annual Common Wealth Awards|work=bonjovi.com|date=March 20, 2015|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226170436/https://www.bonjovi.com/photos-from-the-36th-annual-common-wealth-awards/|archive-date=December 26, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> On May 17, 2015, Wales received the [[Dan David Prize]] of $1{{nbsp}}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|access-date=December 26, 2017|work=Jerusalem Post|date=February 11, 2015|ref=DanDavid|archive-date=June 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629165703/http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Dan-David-Foundation-to-award-three-prizes-of-1-million-to-six-world-renowned-laureates-390602|url-status=live}}</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|work=Jerusalem Post|url=http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Wikipedia-co-founder-genome-project-leader-among-recipients-of-Dan-David-Prize-403363|first=Niv|last=Elis|date=February 10, 2015|access-date=December 26, 2017|archive-date=June 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629175025/http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Wikipedia-co-founder-genome-project-leader-among-recipients-of-Dan-David-Prize-403363|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In January 2016, Wales, along with [[Baroness Rebuck]], became a non-executive director of the [[Guardian Media Group]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-and-gail-rebuck-join-guardian-media-group-board|title=Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales and Gail Rebuck join Guardian Media Group board|website=Press Gazette|date=January 27, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Ponsford, Dominic|archive-date=May 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501154518/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-and-gail-rebuck-join-guardian-media-group-board|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sweney|first=Mark|date=January 27, 2016|title=Baroness Rebuck and Jimmy Wales join Guardian Media Group board|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/27/baroness-rebuck-jimmy-wales-guardian-media-group-board|access-date=April 3, 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=November 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122084853/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/27/baroness-rebuck-jimmy-wales-guardian-media-group-board|url-status=live}}</ref> On February 2, 2016, he received a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the [[Université Catholique de Louvain]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20160202_00774112/eduardo-suplicy-paola-vigano-et-jimmy-wales-faits-docteurs-honoris-causa-de-l-ucl|title=Eduardo Suplicy, Paola Vigano et Jimmy Wales faits Docteurs honoris causa de l'UCL|website=[[L'Avenir (Belgian newspaper)|L'Avenir]]|date=February 2, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Belga|author-link=Belga (news agency)|archive-date=June 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629131133/http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20160202_00774112/eduardo-suplicy-paola-vigano-et-jimmy-wales-faits-docteurs-honoris-causa-de-l-ucl|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_ucl-trois-penseurs-utopistes-pour-regler-les-problemes-belges?id=9203043|title=UCL: Trois penseurs utopistes pour régler les problèmes belges?|website=[[RTBF]]|date=February 2, 2016|access-date=December 26, 2017|author=Schmitz, Bruno|archive-date=July 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701203327/https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_ucl-trois-penseurs-utopistes-pour-regler-les-problemes-belges?id=9203043|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In June 2016, during the opening ceremony on [[Wikimania 2016]], Wales was awarded honorary citizenship of [[Esino Lario]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Esino Lario, cittadinanza onoraria al "papà" di Wikipedia|trans-title=Esino Lario, honorary citizenship to the "father" of Wikipedia|newspaper=[[Il Giorno (newspaper)|Il Giorno]]|location=Milan|language=Italian|date=June 24, 2016|url=https://www.ilgiorno.it/lecco/cronaca/esinolario-cittadinanza-wikipedia-brexit-1.2286521|access-date=November 22, 2022|archive-date=November 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122012644/https://www.ilgiorno.it/lecco/cronaca/esinolario-cittadinanza-wikipedia-brexit-1.2286521|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In September 2017, he was awarded the [[President's Medal (British Academy)|President's Medal]] of the [[British Academy]] "for facilitating the spread of information via his work creating and developing Wikipedia, the world's largest free online encyclopedia".<ref>{{cite web|title=From Wikipedia to Roman coins: British Academy recognises excellence in the humanities and social sciences|url=https://www.britac.ac.uk/news/wikipedia-roman-coins-british-academy-recognises-excellence-humanities-and-social-sciences|website=The British Academy|date=September 27, 2017|access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==

== References ==

== Bibliography ==

== Further reading ==

* "[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wikipedia-jimmy-wales-morley-safer-60-minutes-2/ Wikimania: Meet the Wikipedians. Those "persnickety," techy types who keep your favorite Internet information website brimming with data]." ''[[60 Minutes]]'': [[Morley Safer]] interviewing Jimmy Wales. First aired on April 5, 2015. Rebroadcast on July 26, 2015.
* {{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|last1=Wales|first1=Jimmy}}
* [http://www.onbeing.org/program/jimmy-wales-the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/8916 On Being w/Krista Tippett] ; Jimmy Wales – The Sum of All Human Knowledge (broadcast WAMU American University) September 11, 2016
* "[https://www.newsweek.com/2019/12/20/wikipedia-jimmy-wales-facebook-artificial-intelligence-1476534.html Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales is Taking on Facebook and the Dangers Lurking in the Rise of Artificial Intelligence]", by Fred Guterl, ''Newsweek'', December 12, 2019.

== External links ==

* {{cite web|last=Roberts|first=Russ|title=Wales on Wikipedia|url=http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/jimmy_wales/|website=[[EconTalk]]|publisher=[[Library of Economics and Liberty]]|author-link=Russ Roberts|date=March 9, 2009}}
* , 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 -->
* ''[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/19/you-can-look-it-up-the-wikipedia-story.html You can look it up: The Wikipedia story]'' – excerpt from the 2014 book ''[[The Innovators (book)|The Innovators]]''
*
* [http://community.fandom.com/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales Wikia userpage]
* {{cite web|last1=Wales|first1=Jimmy|title=How Wikipedia Works|url=https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/how-wikipedia-works|website=cato.org|publisher=[[Cato Institute]]|date=December 9, 2016|quote=Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, discusses the site, how it's treated by governments, and how it's fueled by its users.}}