Criticism of Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia founder Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales has often been criticized for his authoritarian style in the management of the online encyclopedia and for his management of the Wikimedia Foundation that is responsible for running it.

As New York Times writer commented in a recent column:

"As long as he is involved with Wikipedia, however, Mr. Wales will continue to be a guiding light for its many contributors — as well as a lighting rod for its critics."

"Sole Founder" controversy with Larry Sanger

While the Wikipedia project consistently released statements to the press in its earliest years describing Larry Sanger as "co-founder" of the encyclopedia, Jimmy Wales later took it upon himself to reframe the description of Sanger as an "employee" of Wales'.

Flip-flopping on paid editing of Wikipedia

In August 2006, Wales supported a compromise with an editing firm (MyWikiBiz.com) to create and serve GFDL content that would be generated about paying entities not currently published in Wikipedia. Later in October, Wales would renege on this agreement and, in fact, chastized the entire public relations industry for any attempts to create or influence GFDL content of an encyclopedic nature.

Essjay scandal

In January 2007, Wales hired Ryan Jordan (pseudonymously known as "Essjay" on Wikipedia) to work at Wikia, Inc. At that time, it is presumed that Wikia knew that Jordan was not academically credentialed as a Theology PhD, as described on his Wikipedia user page. Later in February, Wales appointed Essjay to Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee. When the Wikipedia Review engaged the New Yorker magazine to expose Essjay's fraud, Wales' first reaction was to say he "didn't really have a problem with it".

Rachel Marsden affair

His alleged attempts to "clean up" a Wikipedia entry for a woman with whom he had a relationship has also generated headlines. Wales was recently accused of intervening to protect the Wikipedia of a news commentator with whom he had a romantic relationship.

The Wikipedia article regarding controversial Canadian radio commentator Rachel Marsden has been the subject of controversy on Wikipedia from some years, see W:Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Rachel Marsden. According to Ms Marsden, whom Wales has admited to dating, she had asked Wikipedia to delete her biography. Her concerns led her to contact Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales in 2006, claiming that it was wrong and libelous. According to her, he reviewed her biography and, deeming that it was not up to standard, helped to clean up the entry. However, the article was mainly revised as the result of an extensive review by Wikipedia's arbitration committee, see W:Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Rachel Marsden.

Wales announced in a statement on Wikipedia "My involvement in cases like this is completely routine, and I am proud of it." On February 29, 2008, the technology gossip blog Valleywag claimed that they had entered into a relationship, and published instant messaging chats that they had allegedly exchanged. On the following day Wales announced on his Wikipedia user page that he was no longer involved with her. In return, Marsden, who claimed to have learned about the breakup by reading about it on the Internet, turned to eBay and put up for auction a t-shirt and sweater that she claimed to be Wales'.

Misspending Foundation funds

In March 2008, Wales was accused by former Wikimedia Foundation employee Danny Wool of subsidizing personal expenditures with foundation funds. These included rebuffed attempts to have reimbursed a $1200 dinner for four, a $400 wine tab, and even a visit to a Moscow massage parlor that Wales submitted twice for payback from the Foundation. Wool also stated that Wales had his Wikimedia credit card taken away in part because of his spending habits, though Wales denied this claim. Foundation Chair Florence Devouard and former foundation interim Executive Director Brad Patrick denied any wrongdoing by Wales or the foundation, saying that Wales accounted for every expense and that for items he did not have receipts for, he paid out of his own pocket.

Jeffrey Merkey favors-for-payment allegations

Later in March 2008, it was alleged by Jeffrey Vernon Merkey that Wales had edited Merkey's entry in Wikipedia to make it more "favourable" in return for donations to the Wikimedia Foundation. In May 2006 Wales had erased Merkey's article "because of the unpleasantness of it" and stated "we are nearing a resolution of this longstanding conflict," referring to a dispute between the Wikipedia community and Merkey over the content of the biography. Wales called the allegation that the Wikimedia Foundation had received donations in exchange for this "nonsense."