Jimmy Donal Wales (b. 1966) is an American-British Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, and the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation that operates it and its sister projects.[1]
Early life and education
Jimmy Donal Wales was born on 7 August 1966 in Huntsville, Alabama.[1] He attended the Randolph School, a private academy in Huntsville, before studying finance at Auburn University. He later pursued graduate study in finance at the University of Alabama and at Indiana University Bloomington, though he did not complete a doctorate.[1]
Business career
During the 1990s Wales worked as a research director and trader in futures and options for a financial firm in Chicago, an occupation that gave him the means to pursue online projects. In 1996 he co-founded Bomis, a web portal, which helped fund his early encyclopedia ventures.[1]
Wikipedia and Wikimedia
In 2000 Wales launched Nupedia, a free online encyclopedia written by experts and released through a formal peer-review process. Progress proved slow, and in January 2001 Wales, together with Larry Sanger, launched Wikipedia as a complementary project built on wiki software that allowed anyone to create and edit articles.[1] Wikipedia grew rapidly into one of the most visited websites in the world and among the largest reference works ever assembled. In 2003 Wales established the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation to own and operate Wikipedia and its sister projects, and he has served on its board as chairman and later as a founder-appointed member.[2]
Later ventures and advocacy
In 2004 Wales co-founded Wikia, a for-profit company hosting community-created wikis that was later renamed Fandom. He has since been involved in additional online initiatives and has become a prominent public speaker and advocate for free access to knowledge, articulating the project's guiding vision:
Recognition
Wales has received numerous honors for his role in expanding access to information, including the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize, induction into the Internet Hall of Fame, the UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal, and the Dan David Prize.[3] He holds both United States and United Kingdom citizenship and has lived in London.[1]
