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'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, Wikispecies, Wikinews, Wikiversity, Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, Wikidata and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia.
==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his adult entertainment company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
At the start, Wales transferred ownership of all Wikipedia, Wiktionary and [[Nupedia]] [[domain name]]s to Wikimedia along with the copyrights for all materials related to these projects that were created by [[Bomis]] employees or Wales himself. The computer equipment used to run all the Wikimedia projects was also donated by Wales to the foundation, which also acquired the domain names "wikimedia.org" and "wikimediafoundation.org".
In April 2005, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] determined that the foundation was an educational foundation in the category "[[Adult education|Adult]], [[Continuing education|Continuing Education]]", making all contributions to the foundation [[Tax deduction|tax-deductible]] for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
On September 25, 2007, the foundation's board decided to move to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. The Board said its major reasons for choosing San Francisco were proximity to like-minded organizations and potential partners as well as cheaper and more convenient international travel than is available from St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name="MoncadaWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url = http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/25/wikimedia-foundation-moving-another-bay-area/?news-breaking | title= Wikimedia Foundation Moving To Another Bay Area | author = Carlos Moncada | work = [[The Tampa Tribune]] |date = September 25, 2007 | quote = }}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref><ref name="MullinsWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url= http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBNF5F517F.html | title = Online Encyclopedia To Leave St. Petersburg For San Francisco | author = Richard Mullins | work = The Tampa Tribune |date = September 26, 2007 | quote = }}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref><ref name="KimWikimoveSFChronicle">{{cite web | url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/BU69SNMQ2.DTL&tsp=1 | title = Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco | first = Ryan | last = Kim |work=San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 10, 2007 | quote = }}</ref>
==Wikia==
In January 2004, [[Jimmy Wales]] appointed his business partners [[Tim Shell]] and Michael E. Davis to the foundation's board. In June 2004, an election was held for two user representative board members. Following one month of campaigning and two weeks of online voting, [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] and [[Florence Devouard|Florence Nibart-Devouard]] were elected to join the board. In late 2004, Wales and Beesley launched a startup company, [[Wikia]], affiliated with neither Wikimedia nor Bomis, except for their presence as principals/trustees. In July 2005, Beesley and Nibart-Devouard were re-elected to the board. On July 1, 2006, Beesley resigned from the board effective upon election of her successor, expressing concern about "certain events and tendencies that have arisen within the organization since the start of this year," but stating her intent to continue to participate in the Wikimedia projects, and in the formation of an Australian chapter. A special election was held in September to finish Beesley's term, ending with the mid-2007 election. The election was won by [[Erik Möller]]. Möller was subsequently hired as Deputy Executive Director of the WMF. On December 8, 2006, the board expanded to seven people with the appointments of Kat Walsh and [[Oscar van Dillen]]. Walsh was elected Chair of the board in July 2012.
Wales and Beesley continued to develop Wikia as a for-profit alternative to the WMF projects, and some critics allege that by deleting very specialized articles and content from Wikipedia, a core team was pushing people to develop specialized wikis on Wikia.
Wales continues as a voting member of the WMF Board and serves as its spokesperson.
==Doran scandal==
In January 2007, Carolyn Doran was named chief operating officer and Sandy Ordonez joined as [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Head_of_Communications head of communications].<ref>{{cite web | title = Current staff | publisher = Wikimedia Foundation | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff | accessdate =February 1, 2007 | author = Danny | authorlink = foundation:User:Danny | archiveurl = https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Current_staff&oldid=19370 | archivedate = February 1, 2007 }}</ref> Doran began working at WMF as a part-time bookkeeper in 2006 after being sent by a [[Temporary work|temporary agency]]. Doran later left the foundation in July 2007, and [[Sue Gardner]] was hired as consultant and special advisor (later becoming the Chief Executive Officer). It was later disclosed<ref>{{cite news | first = Cade | last = Metz | title = Wikipedia COO was convicted felon | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/ | date = December 13, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> that Doran was a convicted [[felony|felon]], with a [[DUI]] arrest during her tenure at the foundation and a substantial criminal history, including shooting her boyfriend and complicity in credit card forgery.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Brian Bergstein | first = Brian | last = Bergstein | title = Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWLu3fg-aDeJNfWTY6hlbz93oCwD8TM0HVG0 | date = December 21, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> Her departure from the organization was cited as one of the reasons the foundation took about seven months to release its fiscal 2007 financial audit.<ref>{{cite news | author = Ral315 | title = ''Signpost'' interview: Florence Devouard | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2007-11-19/Anthere_interview | work = The Wikipedia Signpost | date = November 19, 2007 }}</ref>
==References==
<references/>
==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his adult entertainment company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
At the start, Wales transferred ownership of all Wikipedia, Wiktionary and [[Nupedia]] [[domain name]]s to Wikimedia along with the copyrights for all materials related to these projects that were created by [[Bomis]] employees or Wales himself. The computer equipment used to run all the Wikimedia projects was also donated by Wales to the foundation, which also acquired the domain names "wikimedia.org" and "wikimediafoundation.org".
In April 2005, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] determined that the foundation was an educational foundation in the category "[[Adult education|Adult]], [[Continuing education|Continuing Education]]", making all contributions to the foundation [[Tax deduction|tax-deductible]] for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
On September 25, 2007, the foundation's board decided to move to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. The Board said its major reasons for choosing San Francisco were proximity to like-minded organizations and potential partners as well as cheaper and more convenient international travel than is available from St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name="MoncadaWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url = http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/25/wikimedia-foundation-moving-another-bay-area/?news-breaking | title= Wikimedia Foundation Moving To Another Bay Area | author = Carlos Moncada | work = [[The Tampa Tribune]] |date = September 25, 2007 | quote = }}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref><ref name="MullinsWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url= http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBNF5F517F.html | title = Online Encyclopedia To Leave St. Petersburg For San Francisco | author = Richard Mullins | work = The Tampa Tribune |date = September 26, 2007 | quote = }}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref><ref name="KimWikimoveSFChronicle">{{cite web | url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/BU69SNMQ2.DTL&tsp=1 | title = Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco | first = Ryan | last = Kim |work=San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 10, 2007 | quote = }}</ref>
==Wikia==
In January 2004, [[Jimmy Wales]] appointed his business partners [[Tim Shell]] and Michael E. Davis to the foundation's board. In June 2004, an election was held for two user representative board members. Following one month of campaigning and two weeks of online voting, [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] and [[Florence Devouard|Florence Nibart-Devouard]] were elected to join the board. In late 2004, Wales and Beesley launched a startup company, [[Wikia]], affiliated with neither Wikimedia nor Bomis, except for their presence as principals/trustees. In July 2005, Beesley and Nibart-Devouard were re-elected to the board. On July 1, 2006, Beesley resigned from the board effective upon election of her successor, expressing concern about "certain events and tendencies that have arisen within the organization since the start of this year," but stating her intent to continue to participate in the Wikimedia projects, and in the formation of an Australian chapter. A special election was held in September to finish Beesley's term, ending with the mid-2007 election. The election was won by [[Erik Möller]]. Möller was subsequently hired as Deputy Executive Director of the WMF. On December 8, 2006, the board expanded to seven people with the appointments of Kat Walsh and [[Oscar van Dillen]]. Walsh was elected Chair of the board in July 2012.
Wales and Beesley continued to develop Wikia as a for-profit alternative to the WMF projects, and some critics allege that by deleting very specialized articles and content from Wikipedia, a core team was pushing people to develop specialized wikis on Wikia.
Wales continues as a voting member of the WMF Board and serves as its spokesperson.
==Doran scandal==
In January 2007, Carolyn Doran was named chief operating officer and Sandy Ordonez joined as [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Head_of_Communications head of communications].<ref>{{cite web | title = Current staff | publisher = Wikimedia Foundation | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff | accessdate =February 1, 2007 | author = Danny | authorlink = foundation:User:Danny | archiveurl = https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Current_staff&oldid=19370 | archivedate = February 1, 2007 }}</ref> Doran began working at WMF as a part-time bookkeeper in 2006 after being sent by a [[Temporary work|temporary agency]]. Doran later left the foundation in July 2007, and [[Sue Gardner]] was hired as consultant and special advisor (later becoming the Chief Executive Officer). It was later disclosed<ref>{{cite news | first = Cade | last = Metz | title = Wikipedia COO was convicted felon | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/ | date = December 13, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> that Doran was a convicted [[felony|felon]], with a [[DUI]] arrest during her tenure at the foundation and a substantial criminal history, including shooting her boyfriend and complicity in credit card forgery.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Brian Bergstein | first = Brian | last = Bergstein | title = Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWLu3fg-aDeJNfWTY6hlbz93oCwD8TM0HVG0 | date = December 21, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> Her departure from the organization was cited as one of the reasons the foundation took about seven months to release its fiscal 2007 financial audit.<ref>{{cite news | author = Ral315 | title = ''Signpost'' interview: Florence Devouard | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2007-11-19/Anthere_interview | work = The Wikipedia Signpost | date = November 19, 2007 }}</ref>
==References==
<references/>