Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales is an American internet entrepreneur best known for co-founding Wikipedia, the largest and most popular online encyclopedia in the world. In January of 2001, Wales and Larry Sanger, an American internet philosopher and legal specialist, co-founded Wikipedia. The project began as a collaborative effort to produce a free, open-source, editable encyclopedia.

Childhood

Jimmy Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, United States on August 7, 1966. In Alabama's Auburn University, he earned a degree in finance. Wales worked in a variety of finance and technology-related positions following graduation, including as a futures and options trader as a consultant for several technological companies.

Entrepreneur

Wales grew interested in the internet's potential as a tool for knowledge sharing and community building in the late 1990s. In 1999, he co-founded Bomis, a web portal with sexual content and other services. Through Bomis, Wales became acquainted with the internet's technological and community-building components.

Wikipedia

In January 2001, Wales and Larry Sanger, an American internet philosopher and legal specialist, co-founded Wikipedia. The project began as a collaborative effort to produce a free, open-source, editable encyclopedia. Sanger had also co-founded the open-source software Nupedia, upon which the project was based. At the time, the concept of letting anybody to add to and modify the content of an encyclopedia was innovative, and it immediately attracted a large and passionate community of contributors from around the world.

Roles

Wales had a significant role in the establishment and growth of Wikipedia, serving as the site's first chief executive officer and spokesperson. He also served from 2003 to 2008 on the board of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that manages Wikipedia. Wales is recognized with conceiving the vision and guiding principles of Wikipedia, which emphasize the value of open access to knowledge and the efficacy of collective intelligence.

Other projects

In addition to his contributions to Wikipedia, Wales has participated in other internet-related endeavors. In 2004, he established Wikia, a for-profit social networking website that allows users to create and update their own communities and content. In 2012, he also established the non-profit Wiki Education Foundation, which supports the use of Wikipedia in education. Wales also maintains a personal blog, Jimmy Wales Blogs, in which he discusses different themes, such as Wikipedia and open access to knowledge.

Contributions

Wales has been acknowledged throughout his career for his contributions to the internet and open access to knowledge. Numerous medals and distinctions have been bestowed upon him, including the Ernie Arledge Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence from the Georgia Tech College of Management in 2006 and the Freedom Award from the Free Software Foundation in 2011. He has spoken at conferences like TED, the World Economic Forum, and the World Summit on the Information Society.

Humanitarian

Wales is also a humanitarian, in addition to his professional pursuits. He has supported a number of charity organizations, including as the Wikimedia Foundation, the Free Software Foundation, and the Public Library of Science.

Summary

Jimmy Wales is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Wikipedia, the largest and most popular online encyclopedia in the world. In the early stages of Wikipedia's development and expansion, he served as its chief executive officer and spokesperson. Wales is most known for establishing the vision and guiding principles of Wikipedia, which highlight the significance of open access to information and the power of collective intelligence. He is a pioneer in the realm of web-based collaboration and community building, and has been acknowledged for his contributions to the Internet and free access to knowledge.

External links

• Wikipedia

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