Jimmy Wales
Wednesday 2 December 2026
Jimmy Wales is an internet entrepreneur who is best known as the founder of Wikipedia - the largest and most read reference work in history - and the Wikimedia Foundation. Named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, he was also acknowledged by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 250 leaders across the world for his professional accomplishments, his commitment to society and his potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, he lives with his family in London.
The Seven Rules of Trust
Considered by Forbes Magazine to be a “Web Celeb”, Jimmy Wales is a U.S. Internet entrepreneur, Wiki pioneer, and technology visionary, best known as the founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia itself goes back to the year 2000, Wales’ revolutionary concept being to create a free online encyclopedia, created and edited by volunteers around the world. It is now the largest and most read reference work in history.
Subtitled 'What is Today’s Most Essential Superpower', his latest book identified the seven rules of trust, a clarion call for the importance of trust in the post-truth age, and an exploration of how we should act in a way that promotes and upholds trust's vital role in our society. Businesses need it. Schools need it. Families need it. Societies need it. And it seems to be disappearing – everywhere, and at an alarming rate.
Derived from decades of observation, participation and discussion with leaders across the world, The Seven Rules of Trust reveals the fundamental principles that transformed a website from which information was once spurned into a universally trusted source for facts.
Interviewer:
Matt Stadlen
Matthew Stadlen is a TV and radio presenter, political commentator and writer. On our television screens up to six times a week, he is also the host of the 20 Questions With podcast and has conducted almost 600 live interview events. Formerly an LBC and BBC presenter and Telegraph columnist, he has spent more than two decades at the heart of the British media world.
