Despite repeated problems with his Twitter-X platform, Elon Musk frequently targets new rivals. According to Musk, Wikipedia is asking users to provide too much money. Elon Musk posted a series of tweets about Wikipedia over the weekend, questioning why the Wikimedia Foundation was asking for "so much money." This American non-profit organization was founded in 2003 by Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales and is responsible for hosting and managing Wikipedia and other Wiki-related projects. The foundation frequently solicits donations from users, and Musk seems unhappy with the regular requests.
Musk believes Wikipedia "definitely" doesn't need that much money to stay online. Musk said on Twitter that users could even store a text copy of the entire Wikipedia on their phone. He asked for further clarification because "curious people" wanted to know.
Musk also included a link to Wikipedia's official financial report and operating budget, which states that the Wikimedia Foundation uses 43% of its funds to "directly support" its website, 32% to community support, 13% to administration and management, and 12% to fundraising.
Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites on the Internet today, or a massive network of websites whose servers require reasonable funding to keep everything running properly. Still, Musk kept asking and even floated his own donation idea: He was willing to give $1 billion to the Welsh foundation if Wikipedia was renamed Dickipedia.
Elon Musk expressed concerns about Wikipedia's fundraising practices and suggested the name change as part of its efforts to promote accuracy. While some Twitter users have questioned the reliability of Musk's tweets, it must be noted that Wikipedia, the famous online encyclopedia, relies on donations to operate. In 2022, the Wikimedia Foundation reported revenue of $154 million and total expenses of $145 million.
At the same time, Musk recently charged X users in some regions an annual fee of $1 to increase platform revenue.