Background Jimmy Wales left a study track at
Indiana University as a
PhD candidate to work in
finance before completing his
doctoral dissertation. In 1994 Wales was hired by Michael Davis, CEO of finance company
Chicago Options Associates, as a
trader focusing on
futures contracts and
options. He became acquainted with Tim Shell from email lists discussing philosophy. Wales wanted to participate in the online-based
entrepreneurial ventures which were increasingly popular and successful during the mid-1990s. with business associates Tim Shell, and his then-manager Michael Davis, Wales was its chief manager. In 1998 he moved from Chicago to
San Diego to work for Bomis, and then to
St. Petersburg, Florida (where the company subsequently relocated). The staff at Bomis was originally about five employees. In June 2000, Bomis was one of five network partners of
Ask Jeeves. The majority of the revenue that came in to Bomis was generated through advertising. (as Wales and Shell called themselves in Chicago).
Hosted content Working from the
Open Directory Project, Bomis created and maintained hundreds of
webrings on topics related to
lad culture. Its webring on
Star Wars was considered a useful resource for information on
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). Additional webrings included sections helping users find information on the 1942 film
Casablanca,
Hunter S. Thompson,
Farrah Fawcett,
Geri Halliwell of the
Spice Girls, and the 1998 film
Snake Eyes. "Bomis: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ring", devoted to
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, organized over 50 sites related to the program.
Sheila Jeffreys noted in her
Beauty and Misogyny that in 2004 Bomis maintained "The Lipstick Fetish Ring", which helped users with a particular attraction to women in makeup. Bomis became successful after it focused on
X-rated and erotic media. Advertising generated revenue which enabled the company to fund other websites, and the site published suggestive pictures of
professional models. In addition to Bomis the company maintained nekkid.com About ten percent of Bomis' revenue was derived from pornographic films and blogs. The website included a segment devoted to erotic images, "Bomis Babes", and a feature enabled users to submit recommended links to other sites appealing to a male audience. Wales referred to the site's
softcore pornography as "glamour photography", and Bomis became familiar to Internet users for its erotic images. During this period Wales was photographed steering a
yacht with a
peaked cap, posing as a
sea captain with a female professional model on either side of him. In the photograph, the women were wearing
panties and
T-shirts advertising Bomis. A subscription section, Bomis Premium, A three-day trial was US$2.95. While Bomis Babes provided nude images of females to subscribers, he received his degree from
Ohio State University, moving to San Diego to help Bomis with its encyclopedia venture. At the time Sanger joined Bomis, the company had a total workforce of two employees with help from programmers. Nupedia went live in March, Sanger was Nupedia's editor-in-chief. Nupedia's reading comprehension was intended for high-school graduates, Although Bomis began a search for experts to vet Nupedia articles, this proved tedious. Scholars wishing to contribute to Nupedia were required to submit their credentials via fax for verification. later known as
Wikipedia Day. the creation of
HomePage with the text "This is the new WikiPedia!" It was originally intended only to generate draft articles for Nupedia, Sanger was chief organizer of Wikipedia and editor-in-chief of Nupedia. Nupedia was encumbered by its peer-review system, In November 2000, Nupedia had 115 potential articles awaiting its peer-review process. providing staffing and hardware for its initial structure; In late 2000 Bomis had a staff of about 11 employees, but by early 2002 layoffs reduced the staff to its original size of about five. After Sanger's departure, Wikipedia was managed by Wales and a burgeoning online community. Material from Nupedia was folded into Wikipedia and it was discontinued by 2003.
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees By 2003 Wikipedia had grown to 100,000 articles in its English-language version, and it became difficult for Bomis to continue financially supporting the project. With Wikipedia a drain on the company's resources, Wales and Sanger decided to fund the project on a non-profit basis. In June 2003 Wikipedia was transferred to a nascent non-profit organization, the
Wikimedia Foundation, When the foundation was established, its staff began to solicit public funding where Bomis was located. The Wikimedia Foundation
board of trustees was initially composed of Bomis' three founders: Jimmy Wales and his two business partners, Michael Davis and Tim Shell. Shell and Davis were appointed to the board by Wales, and on September 20 Wikipedia reached the million-article mark on an expenditure of $500,000 (most directly from Wales). In 2005, Tim Shell was CEO of Bomis and one of the board members overseeing Wikipedia. Shell remained CEO of Bomis in 2006, becoming vice-president of the Wikimedia Foundation and continuing to sit on its board. Bomis co-founder Michael Davis became treasurer of the Wikimedia Foundation that year. when accessed in 2013 by the archive, it had a welcome message for
PetaBox. When accessed in 2014 by the archive, the website featured a blank white page with a line of text saying "Hello, world!". ==Aftermath==