Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British[4] Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader.[3][5] He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia[6] and the for-profit web hosting company Wikia, later renamed Fandom.[7] Wales has worked on other online projects, including Bomis, Nupedia, WikiTribune, and WT Social.

 

Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, where he attended Randolph School, a university-preparatory school.[8][9][10] He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in finance from Auburn University and the University of Alabama respectively.[9] In graduate school, Wales taught at two universities; however, he departed before completing a PhD to take a job in finance and later worked as the research director of a Chicago futures and options firm.

 

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-reviewed encyclopedia, Nupedia (2000–2003). On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, Wales launched Wikipedia, a free open-content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid growth and popularity. As Wikipedia's public profile grew, he became its promoter and spokesman. Though he is historically credited as co-founder, he has disputed this, declaring himself the sole founder.[11][12]

 

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, the world's largest encyclopedia, Time named him one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2006.[13]