God king

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A god king is an unofficial term, sometimes used to describe the leader on a wiki site, to whom all bureaucrats and sysops are accountable. A god king can create policy unilaterally, and has the final say on all disputes that arise. Often, the god king is the owner of a wiki.

In the case of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), it was initially Jimbo Wales, who was the founder of the WMF organization, and whose associates made up a majority of the governing board in Wikimedia Foundation's early days.

Alternatives

Some wikis, such as RationalWiki (RW), have no single god king, but rather are ruled by an elected committee of moderators. While a god king has the authority to do whatever they want on, to, or with the wiki for any reason or no reason, such a committee usually is only allowed to discipline users for cause, and it can only overturn community decisions in sysop and bureaucrat elections for cause.

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