Wikipedia organization gets $2M commitment from investment group started by eBay founder

EBay founder’s group commits $2M to Wikipedia

NEW YORK — The organization behind Wikipedia is getting a $2 million commitment from a philanthropic investment group started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

Omidyar Network’s grant over two years will support Wikimedia Foundation’s key goals of bringing free educational content to people around the world and of supporting more people to help create that content.

Wikimedia’s flagship project, Wikipedia, is an online encyclopedia that lets anyone edit and add entries.

Matt Halprin, a partner at Omidyar Network, has been appointed to Wikimedia’s board of trustees. Halprin was previously vice president of global trust and safety at eBay Inc.

The donation follows last week’s announcement of a $500,000 grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.