Jimmy Wales Birthday & Fun Facts

Jimmy Wales Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Jimmy Wales

Place Of Birth

Huntsville, Alabama, USA

Age

57 years old

Birth Date

August 7 1966

Jimmy Wales Facts

Child Star?

no

Occupation

Internet Entrepreneur, Webmaster, Former Financial Trader

Education & Qualifications

University of Alabama

Net Worth

$15,000,000

Current Partner

Kate Garvey

Children

Kira Wales, Ada Wales

Parents

Doris Ann, Jimmy Wales

Siblings

Johnny, DeeAnna, Dori

Jimmy Wales or Jimbo Wales is an Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader who co-founded Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia.

He was born on August 7, 1966, in Huntsville, Alabama. He presently resides in London with his wife Kate Garvey.

He also founded the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects.

Wales began his career as a financial trader in Chicago, where he worked for a few years before becoming involved in the early development of the World Wide Web. In 2001, he launched Wikipedia with Larry Sanger, which quickly became one of the most popular websites on the Internet. The idea of a wiki was introduced to Jimmy Wales by Ben Kovitz, a programmer.

The Wikimedia Foundation was established in 2003 to operate Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects. Wales currently serves as its Community Founder.

Jimmy Wales is a part of several think tanks, including those advising the UK government on matters related to cyber security. He has also been awarded honorary citizenship for the Italian region of Esino Lario.

What is Jimmy Wales’ net worth?

Jimmy Wales's net worth is $15 million.

How much does Jimmy Wales earn per year?

It's tough to say precisely how much Jimmy Wales earns in a year, as that information isn't readily available.

How tall is Jimmy Wales?

Jimmy Wales is 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) tall and has blue eyes.

How old is Jimmy Wales?

Jimmy Wales was born on August 7, 1966, which makes him 55 years old as of 2021.

Wales was born on August 7, 1966, in Huntsville, Alabama. Wales loved reading as a youngster. His mother purchased a World Book Encyclopedia from a door-to-door salesperson when he was three years old. When he learned to read, books became a holy object of veneration in his eyes.

Jimmy Wales attended Randolph School for his education. He then went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in Finance from Auburn University. Before completing his Ph.D. in graduate school, he left to work in finance and eventually became the research director of a Chicago futures and options firm. He was interested in computer networks, computer codes, and domain names.

After he had worked in the finance sector for many years, Wales decided to start Wikipedia in 2001. The rest, as they say, is history.

Who is Jimmy Wales’ partner?

He had three marriages. At the age of 20 years in Alabama, he married Pamela Green, a fellow employee at a grocery store. He and Pamela Green divorced soon after. He met his second wife Christine Rohan in Chicago. They had a daughter before divorcing in 2008. In London, Wales married Kate Garvey whom he met in Switzerland. Wales has three daughters.

Best Known For…

Jimmy Wales is recognized for being the co-founder of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. He has said that he was addicted to the Internet at a young age and wrote computer code for fun. He had grown to be an obsessive participant in Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) during his studies in Alabama.

Netscape's extraordinarily successful initial public offering inspired Wales to leave the realm of financial trading and pursue Internet entrepreneurhood. He and two others established Bomis, a web portal with user-generated webrings and erotic photographs. It was marketed as a 'guys-oriented search engine' similar to 'Maxim' magazine's market; the Bomis project did not succeed in the end

Charity Work

In 2003, Mr. Wales founded the Wikimedia Foundation, an NGO dedicated to promoting free, multilingual content growth and development while providing the public with free access to this wiki-based material.

Jim started The People's Operator (TPO), dubbed a social network that makes it easier to give to NGOs. He also testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and government affairs.

What awards has Jimmy Wales won?

The most popular awards won by Jimmy Wales are as follows:

Quadriga (award) in 2008

EFF Pioneer Award in 2006

Jimmy Wales’ Hobbies And Interests

As a child, Jimmy Wales loved reading.

He also loved playing the role-playing game of Multi-User Dungeons.

He is a self-described Objectivist, which means he adheres to the ideas developed by Ayn Rand in the mid-twentieth century that prioritize reason, individualism, and capitalism.

Jimmy and 11 other business executives joined together to publish an open letter to US citizens urging them not to vote for Donald Trump in the presidential election as a part of his political views.

• Wales remembers being captivated by Britannica and World Book encyclopedias while growing up at his mother's Montessori school. In 2005, he described how his early exposure to a plethora of information helped him find Wikipedia.
• Wales is always studying at schools that are more expensive than his parents can afford due to an intensive educational upbringing in his family.
• Wales thinks he is a conservative and a gradualist who believes that slow, step-by-step change is preferable and more sustainable, allowing us to try new things with little societal upheaval.
• Wales co-founded Wikia, Inc. in 2004 with Angela Beesley, a for-profit company. A wiki farm is a collection of distinct wikis on various subjects housed on the same website.
• Wales refused to comply with a request from the People's Republic Of China to censor 'politically sensitive' Wikipedia articles. Wales said that rather than seeing businesses such as Google adhere to Wikipedia's policy of free information, he would prefer it if they respected it.
• Wales slammed whistle-blower website WikiLeaks and its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, calling their publication of Afghan war documents enough to get someone killed. He was also irritated that they used the term wiki.
• He established Nupedia before Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that allowed experts' contributions and peer-reviewed encyclopedias.
• Wales notes that in the early days, he was so afraid of what the public would modify and submit on the published work that he would wake up in the middle of the night to double-check.
• A Google search of his name reveals that he considers himself a libertarian. As a libertarian, he says, freedom, liberty, and individual rights have been his guiding principles.
• Despite Wales's claim in January 2001 that he and Sanger collaborated on the website (he mostly manages the material that came on it), he later claims to be the sole founder of this nonprofit organization.
• Wales is an atheist. His contention that reason had played a significant role in becoming an atheist. He mentioned that he is a firm non-believer and that the principle of rationality is his motto in his discussion.
• Wales charged that Twitter had given special treatment to high-profile personalities such as Trump and Elon Musk for not banning or blocking them for their inflammatory remarks.
• He is often credited as the co-founder of Wikipedia along with Larry Sanger, while he calls himself the founder.
• He is a former co-chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East.