Fandom

Fandom[a]
(formerly known as Wikicities and later Wikia[b]) is a wiki hosting service that

hosts wikis mainly on entertainment topics (i.e. video games, TV series, movies, entertainers, etc.).
[9]
The privately held, for-profit Delaware company was founded in October 2004 by Jimmy
Wales (co-founder of Wikipedia) and Angela Beesley.[5][10] Fandom was acquired in 2018 by TPG
Inc. and Jon Miller through Integrated Media Co.[11]
Fandom uses MediaWiki, the open-source wiki software used by Wikipedia. Fandom, Inc. derives its
income from advertising and sold content, publishing most user-provided text
under copyleft licenses.[12] The company also runs the associated Fandom editorial project, offering
pop-culture and gaming news.[13] Fandom wikis are hosted under the domain fandom.com, but some,
especially those that focus on subjects other than media franchises, were hosted
under wikia.org until November 2021. In recent years Fandom.com has become one of the top 50
most visited websites in the world, ranking the 47th most visited website in the world as of April
2023, according to Similarweb.[14]
History
2004–2009: Early days and growth
Fandom was launched on October 18, 2004, at 23:50:49 (UTC) under the name Wikicities (which
invited comparisons to Yahoo's GeoCities),[15] by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley Starling—
respectively chairman emeritus and advisory board member of the Wikimedia Foundation. The name
of the project was changed to Wikia on March 27, 2006.[16] In the month before the move, Wikia
announced a US$4 million venture capital investment from Bessemer Venture Partners and First
Round Capital.[17] Nine months later, Amazon.com invested $10 million in Series B funding.[18]
By September 2006, Wikia had approximately 1,500 wikis in 48 languages.[19] Over time, Wikia has
incorporated formerly independent wikis such as LyricWiki, Nukapedia, Uncyclopedia,
and WoWWiki.[20] Gil Penchina described Wikia early on as "the rest of the library and magazine
rack" to Wikipedia's encyclopedia.[21] The material has also been described as informal, and often
bordering on entertainment, allowing the importing of maps, YouTube videos, and other non-
traditional wiki material.[22]
2010–2015: New management

By 2010, wikis could be created in 188 different languages.[12] In October 2011, Craig Palmer, the
former CEO of Gracenote, replaced Penchina as CEO.[23] In February 2012, co-founder Beesley
Starling left Wikia to launch a startup called ChalkDrop.com.[24] At the end of November 2012, Wikia
raised $10.8 million in Series C funding from Institutional Venture Partners and previous investors
Bessemer Ventures Partners and Amazon.com.[25] Another $15 million was raised in August 2014 for
Series D funding, with investors Digital Garage, Amazon, Bessemer Venture Partners,
and Institutional Venture Partners. The total raised at this point was $39.8 million.[26][27]
On March 4, 2015, Wikia appointed Walker Jacobs, former executive vice-president of Turner
Broadcasting System, to the new position of chief operating officer.[28] In December 2015, Wikia
launched the Fan Contributor Program.
2016–2018: Fandom brand
Former Fandom logo used until May 2017.

FANDOM logo from 2017 to 2021
On January 25, 2016, Wikia launched a new entertainment news site named Fandom.[29]
On October 4, 2016, Wikia itself was rebranded as "Fandom powered by Wikia", to better associate
itself with the Fandom website. The parent company Wikia, Inc. remained under its then-current
name until 2019, and the homepage of Wikia was moved to wikia.com/fandom and later
to fandom.com.[8]
In December 2016, Wikia appointed Dorth Raphaely, former general manager of Bleacher Report,
as chief content officer.[30]
On May 18, 2017, Fandom updated their branding with a refreshed logo, all-uppercase lettering and
a flat design instead of the previous green-blue gradients.[citation needed]
2018–present: Further acquisitions and inclusivity

In February 2018, former AOL CEO Jon Miller, backed by private equity firm TPG Capital, acquired
Fandom.[5] Miller was named co-chairman of Wikia, Inc., alongside Jimmy Wales,[31] and TPG Capital
director Andrew Doyle assumed the role of interim CEO.[32]
In July 2018, Fandom purchased Screen Junkies from Defy Media,[33] a

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Fandom[a]

(formerly known as Wikicities and later Wikia[b]) is a wiki hosting service that

2010–2015: New management

2016–2018: Fandom brand

Former Fandom logo used until May 2017.

2018–present: Further acquisitions and inclusivity

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