Jimmy Wales of a Chicago futures and options firm. In 1996, he and two partners founded Bomis, an adult web portal featuring entertainment and adult content. The company would provide the initial funding for the peer-reviewed free encyclopedia, Nupedia (2000–03), and its successor, Wikipedia. On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, Wales launched Wikipedia—a free, open content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid growth and popularity; as Wikipedia's public profile grew, he became the project's promoter and spokesman. He is historically cited as a co-founder of Wikipedia, though he has disputed the "co-" designation, declaring himself the sole founder. Wales serves on
Wales Co-operative Centre the Communities First Support Network to support the work of the Communities First Programme . The Coalfields Regeneration Trust provided further funding in 2002 for the Centre to administer the Debt Redemption and Money Advice Scheme to protect those most at risk from doorsetep lenders. The Centre secures European Objective One funding in 2004 to continue work in developing co-operatives and leads to a major expansion of the Centre. In 2005, the Welsh Assembly Government's 'Social Enterprise Strategy for Wales' formally recognises the role which social enterprises and co-operatives play in economic development. Communities@One is launched by the Communities Directorate