Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales ends interview in under a minute after dispute over ‘founder’ label

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales abruptly ended a German podcast interview after being repeatedly questioned about whether he should be described as the founder or co-founder of the online encyclopaedia. Wales, who launched Wikipedia in 2001 with Larry Sanger before Sanger left the project a year later, has long played down Sanger’s involvement, while Sanger has criticised the platform for alleged inaccuracies and what he considers a political bias.

The tense exchange unfolded on Tilo Jung’s podcast Jung & Naiv, where Wales was introduced as the founder of Wikipedia. Jung quickly followed up by asking whether he was the founder or co-founder, a question that immediately irritated Wales. He said he did not care about the distinction and stated that it was the “dumbest question in the world”. When Jung pointed out that there appeared to be a dispute between the two early contributors to the site, Wales informed him that there was no dispute and said the label made no difference to him.

Jung pressed again, asking whether the matter was a problem for Wikipedia and requesting clarity on the facts. Wales reiterated that it did not matter, growing increasingly frustrated as the questioning continued. Less than a minute into the interview, he stood up and informed the host that he was done, saying he had already answered the question multiple times, before walking out.

A visibly surprised Jung turned to the camera and remarked that it was the shortest interview he had ever conducted. The clip has since gone viral, prompting widespread humour and discussion on social media.