OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before Congress about the dangers of AI in 2023. He has repeatedly told U.S. lawmakers at the time that he doesn't own any shares in OpenAI, insisting that he just runs the company because he loves it.
However, Altman recently said that he actually held OpenAI stock through the Sequoia Fund at one point, and has since sold that stock. In an interview with Bari Weiss published Thursday, Altman was asked how much stock he might own if OpenAI were to successfully transform into a for-profit company.
Here's what the OpenAI CEO had to say:
I have a small amount of stock from an old YC fund. I used to have a little bit via the Sequoia Fund and found it easier to sell and maintain positions that way. That is, what I have is a very small amount and it is not important to me at all. I don't know what I will or won't have in the future. There are no plans or commitments to get anything at this time.
Altman's investments through Y Combinator were known, but his investments through Sequoia were not. OpenAI has disclosed on its website that Altman has invested indirectly in the company through YC. The company said this “small investment” was the CEO's “sole interest” in the company and was made before working full-time at OpenAI.
According to the company's website, Sequoia first invested in OpenAI in 2021, two years after Altman became OpenAI's full-time CEO. At the time, OpenAI was valued at about $14 billion, but after the startup's latest funding round earlier this year (one that also included Sequoia), its valuation exploded to $157 billion. rose.
Sequoia's stake in OpenAI will be worth much more starting in 2021 than it is now, but there are some unknowns about Altman's investment through the venture. Venture companies like Sequoia are not required to disclose their limited partner investors. It's unclear when Altman sold his shares and for how much.
An OpenAI spokesperson acknowledged Altman's past disclosures in a statement to TechCrunch, but did not provide further details on these aspects.
“Sam has never had direct ownership in OpenAI. had minimal exposure to OpenAI,” OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Sam no longer has any ongoing involvement with the Fund.”
Most CEOs own stock in the companies they run. If you run a public company, the largest portion of a CEO's compensation is stock. And, of course, startup founders start out owning all of the company's stock, until they grant stock to employees and sell some of their stock to investors. But OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit organization, has an odd structure, and Altman has repeatedly said he owns nothing. Just this month, Altman said at the New York Times' Dealbook Summit that he doesn't own any shares in OpenAI.
OpenAI's CEO said in a May interview on the All In podcast that he initially decided not to take a stake in the company because of its corporate structure. According to the charter, OpenAI's nonprofit board must be made up of a majority of independent directors, and independent directors cannot own company stock. Mr. Altman said this led him to not take stock in order to become one of the independent directors. But this has led many people at the company to question the CEO's motives, which is likely one of the reasons the company is moving away from this structure, Altman said.
Altman's stake in OpenAI is also becoming increasingly relevant as the company looks to transition its for-profit division, currently managed by a nonprofit board, into an independent company. OpenAI is also reportedly considering giving its CEO some equity in the transition, although the company and Altman deny there are any plans to do so.
OpenAI's commercial transition is currently at risk of being blocked by Elon Musk's lawsuit against the company. At the heart of Musk's lawsuit, he claims that OpenAI has abandoned its original nonprofit mission of making the fruits of AI research available to everyone. However, OpenAI recently claimed that Musk wanted to turn the startup into a commercial company from the beginning.
At one point in Altman and Weiss' interview, the OpenAI CEO called Elon Musk a “bully” who “obviously likes to fight.” At another point, Altman lambasted Mehta, who called on California's attorney general to block OpenAI's commercial transition.
“I don't know why Meta sent that letter, but I do know that they know that's not the way to do it. I know that part of it is malicious,” Altman said. said. “I can imagine many other reasons why the Metas sent this letter. I can imagine they wanted to curry favor with Elon, and I can imagine they felt it would help them compete with us. can.”
The company says Altman's involvement with OpenAI through Sequoia has been negligible, but it's hard to reconcile Altman's comments about OpenAI being uncapitalized with Weiss' recent comments on his podcast.