Talk:Jimmy Wales

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~2025-43721-60 (talk) 07:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

Most notably, was one of the co-founders Wikipedia, a nonprofit free encyclopedia, and Fandom (formerly Wikia), a for-profit wiki hosting service. He has also worked on Bomis, Nupedia, WikiTribune, and Trust Café (formerly WT Social).

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. CardboardLamp (^T_C) 07:52, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

I can't find it right now, but I could have sworn I saw an MOS page that argued against using the word "controversy" in headings, such as this one. Instead, it recommended talking about facts related to the topic at hand without labeling it "controversial" because that can be a value judgment. Anyone know what page or part of the MOS I'm referring to? OrdinaryOtter (talk) 05:55, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

WP:CRIT is the essay. Johnuniq (talk) 06:53, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

Thanks! OrdinaryOtter (talk) 07:03, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

Update: Partly based on the essay mentioned above, I have changed the word "controversy" to "dispute" in the header. It seems (to me) to be a more accurate and neutral word—reliable sources call Wales a co-founder, but he disputes this. If there was more information about what the public thinks, then "controversy" might be more accurate. Please let me know your thoughts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OrdinaryOtter (talk • contribs) 18:10, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

The current wording re the birth date makes no sense.

"Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on August 7, 1966; however, his birth certificate lists his date of birth as August 8 [3]."

The source given says "When I interviewed Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales... I asked him -- as journalists almost always do when interviewing people -- how old he is."

"I am 40," Wales replied, adding that the date cited for his birthday on his Wikipedia biography -- Aug. 7, 1966 -- is incorrect.

"They got it from (Encyclopedia) Britannica," Wales told me, "and Britannica got it wrong."

"Wales declined to tell me what day he was actually born ("Nobody knows," he said mysteriously), but a public records search shows that his Florida driver's license lists his birthday as Aug. 8, 1966."

So, the given date source states that Aug 7th is wrong; Wales says it's wrong; the birth certitifcate says it's wrong. So why does the WP article say "Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on August 7"? To boot, the Britannica entry also gives Wales' date as Aug 8th.

The date should be changed, but why is it even listed wrongly in the WP article? It seems that it has been wrong since the article's inception in 2005. Anna (talk) 18:35, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

With 17000 supposed watchers of this article, I'm surprised no editors have anything to say. I have now changed the birth date in the article, according to Britannica. Britannica link gives a discussion of its sources for the August 8th birth date. I have also added a footnote. Anna (talk) 20:20, 13 January 2026 (UTC)

In order to align Wales' two strongly -- and very similarly -- worded statements regarding the co-founder dispute, I would like to suggest to amend the section regarding his interview on the Jung & Naiv podcast as follows (proposed amendments in bold):

In 2013, Wales told The New York Times that the dispute is "the dumbest controversy in the history of the world". In November 2025, Wales appeared on the podcast Jung & Naiv for an interview with the German journalist Tilo Jung. Wales stood up and left after less than a minute, calling Jung's question about his founder status "the dumbest question in the world". ~2026-30988-8 (talk) 09:34, 15 January 2026 (UTC)