 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 . Bomis laid off most of its employees to continue operating , since Wikipedia was not generating revenue . The company owned Wikipedia from its creation through 2003 , and Wales used about $ 100 @,@ 000 of Bomis ' revenue to fund Wikipedia before the decision to shift the encyclopedia to non @-@ profit status . 
