Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales is an influential American internet entrepreneur, best known as the co-founder of Wikipedia and the founder of WikiTribune. Born on August 7, 1966, in Huntsville, Alabama, he has significantly impacted how knowledge is shared online.

Early Life and Education

Wales attended the Randolph School and later earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Auburn University and a master's degree from the University of Alabama. He briefly taught at two universities before transitioning into finance, where he worked as a research director at Chicago Options Associates.

Career Highlights

• Nupedia and Wikipedia: In 2000, Wales co-founded Nupedia, a peer-reviewed encyclopedia. This project laid the groundwork for Wikipedia, which launched on January 15, 2001. Wikipedia quickly became the largest and most popular encyclopedia globally, operating on a model that allows users to collaboratively edit content.14

• Wikimedia Foundation: Wales founded the Wikimedia Foundation in 2003 to support Wikipedia and its sister projects. He continues to serve on its Board of Trustees.14

• WikiTribune: Launched in 2017, WikiTribune aimed to create an ad-free news platform where volunteers could contribute and curate news articles. Despite initial enthusiasm and funding, the project faced challenges, leading to significant changes in its structure and operations.36

Recognitions

Wales has received numerous accolades for his contributions to the internet and knowledge sharing. In 2006, Time magazine named him one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." He has also been recognized by various institutions for his commitment to free knowledge dissemination.24

Personal Insights

Wales is known for his vision of making information freely accessible to everyone. He famously stated, “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge”.4 This philosophy continues to guide his work and initiatives.

For more details about his professional background, you can find him on LinkedIn under the username jimmy-wales-919a8b.5