What did Tilo Jung ask Jimmy Wales that made him abruptly walk out of the Jung and Naiv podcast?

Jimmy Wales has been trending ever since he walked out of an interview on the Jung & Naiv podcast on November 14, 2025. The Wikipedia co-founder’s reaction emerged after Tilo Jung frequently questioned him about his position in the online encyclopedia, as per the Free Press Journal.

The conversation started with Wales introducing himself as the founder of Wikipedia. However, Jung asked if he was the co-founder, following which Wales said that it does not matter, describing Tilo’s enquiry as the “dumbest question.”

Jung did not stop addressing the matter:

“Isn’t that like, when it comes to Wikipedia, a problem? What are the facts?”

Wales responded by saying that it was an opinion. But Tilo seemed unsatisfied with the reply and pointed out that Jimmy was the founder. The conversation abruptly came to an end when Wales said:

“Can I just say again, it doesn’t matter. I’ve answered your question four times. You know what? I’m done. It’s stupid. Don’t ask me stupid questions.”

Jung then took a brief break and walked out of the studio, saying “bye” to the viewers. As of this writing, Tilo or Jimmy has not discussed the conversation on any platform.

Jimmy Wales is believed to be the original founder of Wikipedia

The Huntsville, Alabama, native is in the headlines after he left a podcast interview midway. As mentioned, the issue arose during questioning related to Wales’ position. Notably, Wikipedia is often referred to as a platform founded by Wales and Larry Sanger, who served as editor-in-chief at Nupedia.

While Wales has not directly spoken up about the same over the years, Sanger’s adviser, Terrence Yang, had once claimed that Wales reportedly attempted to remove Sanger’s status as the co-founder of the platform.

A Quora post featuring Yang’s account detailed everything that happened. It states that famous entrepreneur and podcaster Jason McCabe Calacanis was one of those who supported Larry, as the former received an email from Jason, alleging that Sanger was not a co-founder.

“Jason, being a good journalist, thought it really odd, dug more and learned that Wikipedia wasn’t even Jimmy’s idea. Jason, being a good people person, speculated that Jimmy must be really bu**hurt (not Jason’s exact words) because he never monetized Wikipedia, leaving a huge wad of cash on the table,” the post says.

The post additionally claimed that Jimmy Wales was reportedly missing during the first two years of Wikipedia, and Larry Sanger handled everything. On the other hand, Wales or Sanger has not yet responded to the claims made in the post.

Notably, Sanger has described himself as the co-founder and chief organizer of Wikipedia and Nupedia on his LinkedIn profile. The job description states that the former was an idea he developed. Apart from these two platforms, Sanger has also worked with Ballotpedia, Everipedia, Inc. and others.