Jimmy Wales

Early life and education: Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1966 and grew up in an environment that valued education and reading; his interest in encyclopedias dates to childhood. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and later a master’s degree in finance. Early career and Bomis/Nupedia: After working as a financial trader, Wales moved into internet entrepreneurship and in 1996 co‑founded Bomis, a web portal that initially helped fund later projects; Bomis funded Nupedia, a free online encyclopedia with a formal peer‑review model begun around 2000. Founding of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation: In January 2001 Wales, with Larry Sanger and other collaborators, launched Wikipedia as a wiki‑based, collaboratively edited encyclopedia which quickly outgrew Nupedia and became globally popular; in 2003 Wales established the Wikimedia Foundation as the nonprofit steward for Wikipedia and related projects. Later ventures and public roles: Wales co‑founded Wikia (now Fandom) in 2004 to provide hosted wikis, launched other initiatives such as WikiTribune and social projects (e.g., Trust Café/WT Social), and has continued as a public spokesperson for free knowledge, serving as chair emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation and taking leadership/advisory roles in related ventures.