By+Eleanor+Steafel

According to Jimmy Waless Wikipedia page， he is an atheist2） from Alabama， is worth a million dollars， has been married three times， and is known to his friends as “Jimbo.”

He is also the co-founder of the online encyclopedia which， in its 15-year history， has become the most-linked-to website on the planet.

Type any search into Google and the chances are that Wikipedia will feature among the first three posts. The website now receives more than 15 billion page views amonth， with 7，000 new articles created every day by its 80，000 unpaid volunteers worldwide—a mix of one-off contributors and diehard3） editors who spend their free time poring over entries and debating changes.

Its pages feature no clever bells or whistles4）， there is no attempt at flashy design， and a limited number of photographs adorn the entries. And yet Wikipedia has carved such a vital niche5） in the digital age that almost a third of the people alive today have never known a world without it.

But for the boy from Alabama （Huntsville， to be precise） who grew up with a thirst for knowledge and a fascination with encyclopedias， its no surprise that his idea caught on.

“We had a set of World Book Encyclopedias which my mother bought from a travel agent back in the day，” says Wales. “Every year， they would send out the annual update and sometimes they would just rewrite an article completely，” he says， delighting in the memory.

“They would send out these stickers with them and when， say， the Moon article was updated， I would go back to ‘M and next to the article on the Moon I would paste a sticker saying： ‘Check the 1979 annual for the latest version of this article. I guess that was my first time editing an encyclopedia.”

Fast-forward 37 years， and the now 49-year-old Wales is at the helm6） of a website so vast， it would take more than 21 years for a normal person to read the English-language pages alone.

But， perhaps unexpectedly， he is also—as his wifes maid of honour described him in a toast at their wedding—the one world-famous internet entrepreneur who didnt become a billionaire.

Wikipedia is a non-profit organisation which survives on donations from small donors who， quite simply， love to learn. So does he look at the Mark Zuckerbergs and Bill Gateses of this world and feel a pang of regret？

“I dont regret it at all. My life is very interesting. I get to meet all kinds of people. I can do whatever I like. I do things in my life， like going to lobby government officials， and I find it all hugely fascinating. Im not a very money motivated person.”

But nor is he “opposed to people making money.” Indeed， he is hugely admiring of his friend Zuckerberg—who he thinks “will be like Bill Gates， eventually” and move on from Facebook to work on a greater cause.

For Wales， a humanitarian vision has always been the driving force behind Wikipedia. The goal， he says， is to create a world in which “every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.” If he had it his way， people in the furthest， most destitute7） corners of the world would all have a mobile phone preloaded with Wikipedia at no data charge.

But Wales is the first to acknowledge that when it comes to the internet， great power comes with great responsibility， and Wikipedia， which celebrates its 15th anniversary on Jan. 15， 2016 has not been without its controversies over the years.

In March 2012， the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that one in six British MPs had had their entries edited from within Parliament， with around 10，000 edits to the encyclopedia made by MPs or their staff—a sharp practice8） Wales has described as “anti-ethical.” However， he himself has not been immune to scrutiny in this area.

In December 2005， it was reported that Wales had been editing his own entry—fixing a legitimate error， he says： “Its not perfect—were human beings， so its a very noisy process， but one of the strengths of Wikipedia is the diversity of people working there. So if you try to write a completely favourable article aboutDonald Trump9） or Barack Obama， someone will always call you up on it.”

And， as he says， one of the best protections against people editing their own entries is that “it is likely to be quite embarrassing if you get caught.”

So does Wales get approached at parties by people wanting him to take details out of their articles？ Yes—often. But he wont be rushing to the aid of hisWestminster10） pals （and hes got plenty） any time soon. “Normally what I do is I pass it along to our editors to look at， because its not always appropriate for me to go in and fix something. If I did， Id be besieged11） with requests，” he says.

In 2012， he married Kate Garvey， Tony Blairs long-serving aide， at an event described as an unusual mix of British politicians， celebrities and digital royalty. To give you an idea： The Blairs and Alistair Campbell12）—who wore a kilt13） and played the couple out of the church with bagpipes14）—were seen quaffing15） champagne and sharing canapés16） with model-turned-actress Lily Cole.

He met Garvey at Davos （where else？） and once described her as “The most connected woman in London.” A valid observation， seeing as she had been Blairs diary secretary at Number 10 and then a director at Freud Communications， the PR firm set up by Matthew Freud， great-grandson of Sigmund Freud17） and Rupert Murdoch18）s former son-in-law.

But though the couple live in London with their two daughters （he also has a 14-year-old daughter in the States， from his second marriage） and move in high-powered circles， he isnt a total anglophile19）. And he certainly doesnt think much of our politicians， lamenting the “l(fā)ow level of technical literacy among parliamentarians，” which he says has brought about the “hugely problematic” Investigatory Powers Bill—new measures created in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations20） which would give online surveillance21） powers to the government. To Wales： “The idea that we should snoop22） on 66 million people in order to try and get data on a handful of people is not proven to work and is not likely to work.”

For the southern boy whose father ran a grocery store and mother a traditional southern schoolhouse， and whose first wife was the girl from the shop where he worked as a young man， life as an internet entrepreneur in London who spends his days lobbying the British government and his nights partying with the elite may once have seemed a little far-fetched.

But despite all that， he is still， he maintains， “a Wikipedian in my heart.” Though he has taken a step back from the day-to-day running of the organisation in recent times to go forth and spread the Wikipedia vision around the world—hes on the road 150 days a year， giving lectures on free speech and lobbying governments about internet freedom—he still goes on the site every day， regularly weighing in23） on debates over the minutiae24） of entries on the life cycle of a lesser-known plant species or a particularly complicated clause in the American constitution.

Though Wales is rightfully proud of his achievement， he says there is still much to be done—and has suitably big plans for the next 15 years. “The growth of Wikipedia in the developing world really remains a personal priority simply because the dream is for every single person on the planet.

“So，” he says， “weve got a long way to go.”

如果一個網(wǎng)站位列全球訪問量最大的網(wǎng)站前五名，每月訪問量有150億次以上，你一定認為該網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)始人早已賺得盆滿缽盈。而維基百科的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人吉米·威爾士卻是一個例外。作為一個由全球志愿者共同編寫的網(wǎng)絡百科全書，維基百科不收費、不刊登廣告，僅僅依靠公眾和企業(yè)的捐贈來維系日常運營。如此，就不難理解為何吉米·威爾士是“世界知名的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)家中唯一一個沒有成為億萬富豪的人”。比起巨額的財富，或許威爾士更在意的是實現(xiàn)他的夢想——讓地球上每個人都能自由獲取人類全部的知識。

I Dont Regret Not Monetising1） Wikipedia

據(jù)維基百科頁面的介紹，吉米·威爾士是一個來自亞拉巴馬州的無神論者，身家100萬美元，結(jié)過三次婚，朋友們稱他為“Jimbo”。

他同時還是這個網(wǎng)絡百科全書的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人，該網(wǎng)站建立15年來，已經(jīng)成為全球被鏈接次數(shù)最多的網(wǎng)站。

在谷歌上輸入任一詞條進行搜索，維基百科都很可能排在最前面的三條搜索結(jié)果中。該網(wǎng)站目前每個月的網(wǎng)頁訪問量超過150億次，每天有7000個詞條被創(chuàng)建，創(chuàng)建者為分布在全球各地的8萬名無償志愿者——他們中有些人只參與過一次編寫，有些則是網(wǎng)站的鐵桿編輯，一有閑暇就細心閱讀詞條，討論改動內(nèi)容。

網(wǎng)站的頁面沒有華而不實的精巧裝飾，不追求花哨的設計，每個詞條僅有少量圖片點綴。但是維基百科在數(shù)字時代占據(jù)了如此至關(guān)重要的地位，對于當今世上近三分之一的人來說，維基百科就是這個世界理所當然的一部分。

但是在這個來自亞拉巴馬（具體說是亨茨維爾）的從小求知若渴、癡迷百科全書的男孩看來，自己的理念被廣為接受并不意外。

“我小時候家里有一套《世界百科全書》，是媽媽從一個旅行代理那兒買的?！蓖柺空f?！懊磕晁麄兌紩膩懋斈旮碌男抻唭?nèi)容，有時甚至會完全重寫某個篇目。”他愉快地回憶道。

“他們會隨信寄來一些貼紙，比如，如果‘Moon這個詞條有改動，我就會找到M開頭的部分，然后在介紹月亮的那篇文章旁邊貼上一張貼紙，上面寫著：‘本篇的最新版本參見1979年的年度更新。我想那是我第一次編輯百科全書?！?/p>

將時間快進37年，現(xiàn)年49歲的威爾士掌管的這家網(wǎng)站如此龐大，一個普通人僅僅看完它的英文網(wǎng)頁內(nèi)容就要花超過21年的時間。

不過，正如他妻子的伴娘在他們的婚禮上發(fā)表祝辭時所說的那樣，他也是世界知名的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)家中唯一一個沒有成為億萬富豪的人，這一點可能出乎人們的意料。

維基百科是一個非營利機構(gòu)，其生存靠那些單純熱愛求知的人們的小額捐款得以維系。那么，看到世界上有馬克·扎克伯格和比爾·蓋茨這樣的人時，威爾士會不會感到一陣痛悔？

“我一點也不后悔。我的生活充滿樂趣。我能夠結(jié)識形形色色的人，做任何我想做的事。我在生活中辦不少事，比如去游說政府官員，我覺得所有這些都非常有趣。我不是個特別受金錢驅(qū)動的人?！?/p>

但是他也不“反對別人賺錢”。事實上，他對朋友扎克伯格極為贊賞——認為他“最終會像比爾·蓋茨一樣”，不會止步于Facebook，而是會繼續(xù)投身于更偉大的事業(yè)。

在威爾士看來，人道主義愿景始終是維基百科背后的推動力。他說，他的目標是建立一個“地球上每個人都能自由獲取人類所有知識”的世界。如果他得償所愿，那么生活在世界上最偏遠、最貧困角落里的人們都會人手一部預裝了維基百科的手機，而且無需支付數(shù)據(jù)費用。

不過威爾士最先認識到，在和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)相關(guān)的問題上，權(quán)力越大，責任就越大。而在2016年1月15日度過了15歲生日的維基百科，多年以來也并非毫無爭議。

2012年3月，英國新聞調(diào)查局披露，六分之一的英國下院議員的維基條目被修改過，修改人就來自議會內(nèi)部，下院議員或其僚屬對維基百科上的內(nèi)容進行了約一萬次改動——威爾士稱這種不體面的做法“違反道德”。不過，在這方面，他自己同樣躲不開外界的審視。

2005年12月，有報道稱，威爾士一直在修改有關(guān)自己的詞條——他說是對一處確實有誤的地方做出更正：“維基百科并不完美——我們畢竟是凡人，因此編寫的過程充滿各種不同的聲音，不過維基百科的一個優(yōu)勢在于參與者的多元化。因此，如果你想為唐納德·特朗普或巴拉克·奧巴馬寫一篇全是贊美之辭的詞條，總會有人來找你理論的?！?/p>

而且，如他所言，防止有人改動自己詞條的最有效的防范機制之一就是“如果被人抓住，可能會很難堪”。

那么，威爾士參加聚會時，是不是有人找他商量，想讓他從他們的詞條中刪除某些細節(jié)呢？是的，這種事經(jīng)常發(fā)生。但他不會馬上急于幫助他在威斯敏斯特的那些朋友（他有很多這類朋友）。“我通常的做法是把事情交給編輯們處理，因為我要是進去做改動的話，有時不太合適。如果我那么做了，就會有更多這樣的請求纏著我?！彼f。

2012年，他與長期擔任托尼·布萊爾助手的凱特·加維結(jié)婚，他們的婚禮被形容為匯集了英國政要、名流和網(wǎng)絡顯貴的一場不尋常的盛事。試想一下這樣的場景：布萊爾夫婦和阿利斯泰爾·坎貝爾（當新婚夫婦走出教堂時，身穿蘇格蘭短裙的坎貝爾在一旁吹風笛為他們伴奏）在威爾士的婚禮上痛飲香檳，而與他們共享開胃薄餅的是模特出身的演員莉莉·科爾。

他與加維相識于達沃斯（還會在別的地方嗎？），曾形容她是“倫敦人脈最廣的女人”。此言不虛，因為她曾在唐寧街10號擔任布萊爾的日程秘書，后來又在弗洛伊德傳播公司擔任董事，這家公關(guān)公司的創(chuàng)辦者馬修·弗洛伊德是西格蒙德·弗洛伊德的曾孫，也是魯珀特·默多克的前女婿。

雖然夫婦二人和兩個女兒住在倫敦（他在美國還有一個14歲的女兒，是與第二任妻子所生），并躋身權(quán)貴階層的圈子，但他并不是個完全的親英派。他對英國政客的評價顯然不高，為“議會議員在科技方面的無知”感到遺憾，他認為正是這種無知導致了“大有問題的”《調(diào)查權(quán)力法案》的出臺——該法案是在愛德華·斯諾登泄密事件后制定的新措施，賦予了政府監(jiān)督網(wǎng)絡的權(quán)力。在威爾士看來，“為了試圖獲取少數(shù)幾個人的情報而對6600萬人實施監(jiān)控，沒有證據(jù)表明這種做法有效，它恐怕也不會見效”。

父親曾開雜貨店，母親曾管理一間傳統(tǒng)的美國南方學堂，第一任妻子是他年輕時工作的那家店里的同事——對這樣一個美國南方小伙來說，成為一名互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)家，在倫敦過著白天游說英國政府、晚上與精英人士聚會的生活，這樣的人生也許曾經(jīng)看來是遙不可及的。

但盡管如此，他堅持說自己“在內(nèi)心還是個維基百科人”。他近來的工作重心已經(jīng)從維基百科的日常運營轉(zhuǎn)向前往世界各地傳播維基百科的愿景，每年有150天都四處奔波，發(fā)表關(guān)于言論自由的演講，就網(wǎng)絡自由向政府游說。雖然如此，他仍然每天登錄維基百科的網(wǎng)站，并常常參與詞條細節(jié)的討論，比如關(guān)于某種不太知名的植物的生命周期或美國憲法中某個特別復雜的條款。

Wales與妻子在婚禮上

盡管威爾士完全有理由為自己的成就感到自豪，但他表示要做的事還有很多，也為未來15年制定了相應的宏偉規(guī)劃?！熬S基百科在發(fā)展中國家的成長壯大確實依然是我的首要任務，只因我的夢想是讓地球上的每一個人都能用到維基百科。

“所以，我們還有很長的路要走?！彼f。

1. monetise [?m?n??ta?z] vt. 從中賺錢

2. atheist [?e?θi?st] n. 無神論者

3. diehard [?da??hɑ?（r）d] adj. 頑固的，死硬的

4. bells or whistles：活用自短語bells and whistles，指華而不實的點綴品。

5. niche [ni??] n. 合適的職務（或地位等）

6. at the helm：負責，掌管

7. destitute [?dest?tju?t] adj. 窮困的，赤貧的

8. sharp practice：不體面的做法;卑鄙交易

9. Donald Trump：唐納德·特朗普（1946～），美國商人、作家、主持人，2016年美國總統(tǒng)候選人

10. Westminster：威斯敏斯特（喻指英國議院）

11. besiege [b??si?d?] vt. 擾得……應接不暇;纏磨

12. Alistair Campbell：阿利斯泰爾·坎貝爾（1957～），英國記者、作家，曾在英國前首相托尼·布萊爾任職期間擔任首相辦公室聯(lián)絡與策略部主任。

13. kilt [k?lt] n. 蘇格蘭短裙

14. bagpipes [?b?ɡ?pa?ps] n. [復] （蘇格蘭等地的）風笛

15. quaff [kw?f] vt. 狂飲，痛飲，大口喝（酒）

16. canapé [?k?n?pe?] n. （涂魚子醬、干酪等佐料的）餐前開胃薄餅（或面包、吐司）

17. Sigmund Freud：西格蒙德·弗洛伊德（1856～1939），奧地利精神病醫(yī)師、心理學家、精神分析學派創(chuàng)始人

18. Rupert Murdoch：魯珀特·默多克（1931～），世界報業(yè)大亨，是全球龐大的傳媒帝國News Corporation （新聞集團）的主要股東、董事長兼首席執(zhí)行官。

19. anglophile [???ɡl???fa?l] adj. 親英者，崇英者

20. Edward Snowden revelations：愛德華·斯諾登泄密事件。2013年6月，曾任美國中央情報局技術(shù)分析員的愛德華·斯諾登將美國國家安全局關(guān)于監(jiān)聽項目的秘密文檔披露給了《衛(wèi)報》和《華盛頓郵報》，隨即遭美國政府通緝，后又通過《衛(wèi)報》曝光英國秘密情報監(jiān)視項目。

21. surveillance [s?（r）?ve?l?ns] n. 監(jiān)視;監(jiān)督

22. snoop [snu?p] vi. 窺探;打探

23. weigh in：參加，加入（爭論、吵架等）

24. minutiae [ma??nju??ia?] n. [復]微小的細節(jié)，細枝末節(jié)