Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, walked out of a podcast interview last week after being asked whether he was the sole or co-founder of the online encyclopedia. The incident occurred during an interview with German journalist Tilo Jung on the show 'Jung and Naiv'.
Wales, who introduced himself as the 'founder of Wikipedia', became visibly frustrated when Jung pressed him on the role of Larry Sanger, who co-launched the site with Wales in 2001. Wales responded, 'I don't care. It's the dumbest question in the world,' and later said, 'It's not a fact, it's an opinion.'
The interview lasted approximately 45 seconds, with Wales ending it by saying, 'I've answered your question four times. You know what? I'm done. Thank you,' before picking up his phone and leaving. The exchange has been described as the 'shortest podcast ever'.
Wales has previously addressed the co-founder debate, telling podcaster Lex Fridman that while Sanger 'doesn't get enough credit for his early work', he believes 'co-founder's not the right title'. Despite this, Wales' own Wikipedia page states he is 'most notably' known for co-founding Wikipedia with Sanger and others.
Larry Sanger left Wikipedia in 2002 and has recently criticized the platform, claiming anonymous editors manipulate articles to fit ideological biases. Wales continues to serve on the Wikimedia Foundation board.
