Jimmy Wales was reportedly in a difficult situation when Tilo Jung, the podcast host of “Jung & Naiv,” asked him whether he was the founder or co-founder of Wikipedia. However, the founding figure of the company did not respond well to the question, which Jung reiterated multiple times in the video.
The situation escalated to the extent that Wales stormed out of the studio and left the host confused. Although the original video is 3 minutes 22 seconds long, the actual interview barely lasted 50 seconds altogether.
Jimmy Wales’ agitated exit from Tilo Jung’s interview has garnered significant attention on social media. Although many criticized the former’s behavior, the host’s questions were brought under the lens by netizens.
Jimmy Wales leaves studio after host Tilo Jung asks about his designation
On November 14, Tilo Jung hosted Jimmy Wales, a prominent entrepreneur known for founding Wikipedia, on his podcast “Jung & Naiv.” The host declared it the shortest interview on his podcast. However, it was cut short due to an unfortunate exchange between the host and the guest.
Jung began the podcast by asking Wales his name, to which the latter responded, “I’m Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia.” The host immediately tried confirming his designation, “You’re the founder or co-founder?” This question set the stage for an unforeseen development later in the video.
In response to Jung’s question, a nonchalant Wales responded, “I don’t care. It’s the dumbest question in the world… It doesn’t matter.” Nevertheless, the podcast host insisted on confirming the detail. He asked, “Isn’t that like, when it comes to Wikipedia, a problem? What are the facts?” To this, Wales replied that it should not be considered a “fact,” but, instead, an “opinion.” He then added, “So, you can have whatever opinion you like. It doesn’t matter.”
Following this logic, Jung reaffirmed, “But for you, you’re the founder.” This was perhaps the point at which Wales became agitated. He replied, “Can I just say again, it doesn’t matter. I’ve answered your question four times.” He then immediately added, “You know what? I’m done,” before storming out of the podcast studio. A confused Jung asked Wales as he left, “What’s going on?” and the latter responded, “It’s stupid. Don’t ask me stupid questions.”
Since then, social media is rife with comments on Jimmy Wales’ reaction to a question about his job description at Wikipedia. At the same time, netizens also wondered about the tonality and the kind of questions Tilo Jung delivered during the interview.
The history of the founding of Wikipedia
As per the company’s history, Wikipedia was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001. Although Sanger had been the technical genius behind the leading online encyclopedia, Wales had been its public face since its inception. However, the latter often disputed Sanger’s co-founder position since his exit in 2002. In actuality, Sanger was laid off in February 2002 by Bomis, the company that initially funded and owned Wikipedia.
According to Big Think, Wales has had a problem with the prefix “co-” when discussions pertaining to the founding figures of Wikipedia emerge. In fact, reports from Wired and The Times (Archived) state that, as per the public edit logs, Wales had made edits in his Wikipedia biography by omitting details of Sanger as the co-founder of the website. Additionally, Sanger has collected press releases on his personal website that confirm his and Wales’s designation as co-founders of the company.
