Experts
Jimmy Wales
Chairman, Wikia; Co-Founder, Wikipedia
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How has technology changed the way you work and live?
Wales can be so focused on his Sidekick that he bumps into people on the street. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Science & Tech
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Jimmy Wales explains Intellipedia. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on the Power of Collaboration
The massive power of connecting people in the right way. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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As the economy slows, will advertising take a hit?
It will only be a disaster for people on the margins, says Wales. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Business & Economics
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Jimmy Wales on the Recession's Impact on the Web
There’s always a boom-and-bust cycle, says Wales. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on the Microsoft-Google Rivalry
Jimmy Wales on the Microsoft-Google Rivalry. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on a Business Model for Social Networking
Will social networking sites ever find the magic bullet? Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on the Semantic Web
For a long time, Wales simply didn’t understand it. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on Jonathan Zittrain: The Future of the Internet
Jonathan Zittrain says the Internet in its current incarnation is unsustainable. Wales doesn’t totally agree. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Yahoo doesn't own its Chinese subsidiary, says Wales. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on Smart Censorship
Keywords, keywords, keywords. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Wikipedia versus the Chinese Government
For a while, Wales says, Wikipedia was banned in China. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on the One Laptop Per Child Project
Ultimately, Wales says, that money would be better spent elsewhere. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on Expanding Wikipedia’s Global Reach
Wales addresses the misconception that Wikipedia is only in English. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on the Next Version of Wikia Search
When will the final version be ready? Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on Not Paying His Writers
Critics have accused Wales on making a profit off of writers he doesnÃŒt pay. Wales responds. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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What is Wikia Search's business model?
Wales says he hasn’t thought about that yet. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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Jimmy Wales on Wikia Search’s Community Monitoring
The art of determining what’s relevant, and what’s not. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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The revolutionary idea of building an open-source software search engine. Read More
May 22, 2008 | In Media & Internet
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If you had $100 billion to give away, how would you spend it?
Wales would do his best to get a computer into the hands of every man, woman and child on Earth. Read More
December 11, 2007 | In Business & Economics
Jimmy Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur known for his role in the creation of Wikipedia, a free, open-content encyclopedia launched in 2001. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, holding the board-appointed "community founder" seat. In 2004, he co-founded Wikia, a privately owned, free Web-hosting service, along with Angela Beesley.
Together with Larry Sanger and others, Wales helped lay the foundation for Wikipedia, which subsequently enjoyed rapid growth and popularity. As Wikipedia expanded and its public profile grew, Wales took on the role of the project's spokesman and promoter through speaking engagements and media appearances. Wales has been historically cited as the co-founder of Wikipedia but he disputes the "co-" designation, asserting that he is the sole founder of Wikipedia. Wales' work developing Wikipedia, which has become the world's largest encyclopedia, prompted Time magazine to name him in its 2006 list of the world's most influential people.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Wales attended a small private school, then a university preparation school, eventually attaining a bachelor's degree and master's degree in finance. During his graduate studies he taught at two universities.
