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|date=May 14, 2007

|date=May 14, 2007

|accessdate=2007-10-04}}</ref> Wales describes himself as a  [[communitarianism|communitarian]] (someone who could be said to be "radical center", meaning they agree with the left on issues relating to the economy, such as the need for environmental protection and public education, but not on cultural issues, but instead generally agree with the right or conservatives on cultural issues, such as support for character education and faith-based programs).<ref name="Left_in_Control_of_Wikipedia"/> The revisions have since been deleted by liberal Wikipedia administrators wishing to protect Jimmy's public image.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=238013334&oldid=366216764</ref> Editors trying to make this point in Wikipedia are routinely [[politically profiled|profiled]], stalked, harassed, slandered, and banned. An irony of internet history is that Jimmy Wales, despite being an atheist, refers to himself as Wikipedia's "spiritual leader".<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/09/wikimedia_pron_purge/</ref>

|accessdate=2007-10-04}}</ref> Wales describes himself as a  [[communitarianism|communitarian]] (someone who could be said to be "radical center", meaning they agree with the left on issues relating to the economy, such as the need for environmental protection and public education, but not on cultural issues, but instead generally agree with the right or conservatives on cultural issues, such as support for character education and faith-based programs).<ref name="Left_in_Control_of_Wikipedia"/> The revisions have since been deleted by liberal Wikipedia administrators wishing to protect Jimmy's public image.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=238013334&oldid=366216764</ref> Editors trying to make this point in Wikipedia are routinely [[politically profiled|profiled]], stalked, harassed, slandered, and banned. An irony of internet history is that Jimmy Wales, despite being an atheist, refers to himself as Wikipedia's "spiritual leader".<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/09/wikimedia_pron_purge/</ref>

 

Jimmy Wales became a millionaire{{fact}} by trading commodity options; before funding Wikipedia, he funded Bomis Inc. in 1996, which contained pornographic material.<ref>http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69880</ref>  Bomis produced two unsuccessful search engines: "Search Bastard" and "3Apes", which went out of their way to insult users with obscenities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipedia-sucks-badly.blogspot.com/2014/12/before-wikipedia-search-bastard-and.html|title=Before Wikipedia: Search Bastard and 3Apes |date=December 23, 2014|accessdate=December 24, 2014}} Search Bastard existed from 2000 to 2006.</ref>  Besides funding the non-profit Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales also funded the for-profit [[Wikia]], a company that provides wiki services for businesses and organizations.

Jimmy Wales became a millionaire{{fact}} by trading commodity options; before funding Wikipedia, he funded Bomis Inc. in 1996, which contained pornographic material.<ref>http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69880</ref>  Bomis produced two unsuccessful search engines: "Search Bastard" and "3Apes", which went out of their way to insult users with obscenities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipedia-sucks-badly.blogspot.com/2014/12/before-wikipedia-search-bastard-and.html|title=Before Wikipedia: Search Bastard and 3Apes |date=December 23, 2014|accessdate=December 24, 2014}} Search Bastard existed from 2000 to 2006.</ref>  Besides funding the non-profit Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales also funded the for-profit [[Wikia]], a company that provides wiki services for businesses and organizations.

Wales was caught editing his own profile on Wikipedia in a bit of a scandal in an effort to downplay [[Larry Sanger]]'s role in the company and distance himself from his Bomis past.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69880,00.html ''Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio''] Wired. Accessed 17 March 2008</ref>

Wales was caught editing his own profile on Wikipedia in a bit of a scandal in an effort to downplay [[Larry Sanger]]'s role in the company and distance himself from his Bomis past.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69880,00.html ''Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio''] Wired. Accessed 17 March 2008</ref>

In 2014, Wales accepted a new job as executive director of strategy and digital community for [[The People’s Operator]] (TPO), a cell phone startup company with ties to the British [[Labour Party]]. Wales owns 10% of the new company. TPO has struggled to gain subscribers in the UK and the United States,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11156163/Wikipedia-founder-to-float-mobile-phone-company.html|title=

In 2014, Wales accepted a new job as executive director of strategy and digital community for [[The People’s Operator]] (TPO), a cell phone startup company with ties to the British [[Labour Party]]. Wales owned 10% of the new company. TPO struggled to gain subscribers in the UK and the United States,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11156163/Wikipedia-founder-to-float-mobile-phone-company.html|title=

Wikipedia founder to float mobile phone company|first=Graham|last=Ruddick|work=The Telegraph|date=October 11, 2014|accessdate=October 14, 2014}}</ref> and it has lost over 90% of its market capitalization.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sharesmagazine.co.uk/news/shares/the-peoples-floperator|title=

Wikipedia founder to float mobile phone company|first=Graham|last=Ruddick|work=The Telegraph|date=October 11, 2014|accessdate=October 14, 2014}}</ref> and it has lost over 90% of its market capitalization.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sharesmagazine.co.uk/news/shares/the-peoples-floperator|title=

The People's Floperator|first=Steven|last=Frazer|work=Shares Magazine|date=September 30, 2016|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}</ref>  Wales became the Chairman of TPO's Board of Directors upon the death of its founder, [[Andrew Rosenfeld]] on February 8, 2015.  Wales then ran TPO into the ground while drawing an impressive salary.  On January 25, 2017, Wales stepped down from leading TPO.<ref>http://www.investegate.co.uk/the-people-soperator--tpop-/rns/board-changes--subscription---trading-update/201701250700070218V/</ref>

The People's Floperator|first=Steven|last=Frazer|work=Shares Magazine|date=September 30, 2016|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}</ref>  Wales became the Chairman of TPO's Board of Directors upon the death of its founder, [[Andrew Rosenfeld]] on February 8, 2015.  Wales then ran TPO into the ground while drawing an impressive salary.  On January 25, 2017, Wales stepped down from leading TPO.<ref>http://www.investegate.co.uk/the-people-soperator--tpop-/rns/board-changes--subscription---trading-update/201701250700070218V/</ref>

In order to replace TPO as his source of income, in April 2017, Wales decided to found a for-profit news organization, WikiTribune.  In addition to paying Wales a salary, WikiTribune will hire ten professional journalists and also work with volunteer editors and fact checkers.  Unlike Wikipedia which is owned by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, WikiTribune is owned by Jimmy Wales Ltd, a private company.  WikiTribune is being financed by crowd-sourcing with both startup donations and pledges of monthly subscription payments.  Because of the obvious conflict between WikiTribune and The Guardian, Wales was forced to resign from the Guardian's board, where he had been serving for one year.  To date, he has not been forced to resign from either the WMF Board or the Tide Foundation's WMF Endowment Advisory Board.

In order to replace TPO as his source of income, in April 2017, Wales decided to found a for-profit news organization, WikiTribune. According to the BBC, "Mr Wales said he would be '100% hands-on' with the project in its early stages and would be likely to serve as Wikitribune's chief executive for at least a year."<ref name=bbc1>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39695767|title=Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales creates news service Wikitribune|work=BBC|date=April 25, 2017|accessdate=May 16, 2017}}</ref> In addition to paying Wales a salary, WikiTribune will hire ten professional journalists and also work with volunteer editors and fact checkers.  Unlike Wikipedia which is owned by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, WikiTribune is owned by Jimmy Wales Ltd, a private company.  WikiTribune is being financed by crowd-sourcing with both startup donations and pledges of monthly subscription payments.  Because of the obvious conflict between WikiTribune and The Guardian, Wales was forced to resign from the Guardian's board, where he had been serving for one year.  To date, he has not been forced to resign from either the WMF Board or the Tide Foundation's WMF Endowment Advisory Board. Wales' advisors on WikiTribune include: Silicon Valley venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki,

 

WikiTribune is based in London, England, which is a controversial choice because UK law makes it much easier for celebrities to recover for libel.  Also, WikiTribune's terms of service requires volunteer editors to indemnify WikiTribune for any liability resulting from their work including libel damages.  So, if a public figure, such as Donald Trump, cannot sue a United States-based news outlet for libel, WikiTribune will be able to be sued in London under British legal standards, and any US-based volunteer that helped to write or edit the article will be forced to pay if the court awards damages.

WikiTribune is based in London, England, which is a controversial choice because UK law makes it much easier for celebrities to recover for libel.  Also, WikiTribune's terms of service requires volunteer editors to indemnify WikiTribune for any liability resulting from their work including libel damages.  So, if a public figure, such as Donald Trump, cannot sue a United States-based news outlet for libel, WikiTribune will be able to be sued in London under British legal standards, and any US-based volunteer that helped to write or edit the article will be forced to pay if the court awards damages.