Sam Altman denies reports he will get a gargantuan equity stake in OpenAI as it restructures
OpenAI may be changing to a for-profit company, but according to CEO Sam Altman, that doesn’t mean he’s about to strike it rich.
Altman told OpenAI employees in an all-hands meeting Thursday that there are no plans to give him a “giant equity stake” in the newly for-profit enterprise, CNBC reported, citing an anonymous employee. On the subject of his receiving an equity stake in the company, Altman reportedly added, “There are no current plans here.”
The CEO’s statement contradicts reports that OpenAI considered giving him a 7% stake, which could hike his net worth by $10 billion, Bloomberg reported. OpenAI is working to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation, which would make it one of the highest valued startups ever.
The possible equity grant would also make Altman, who is already a billionaire according to Forbes estimates, one of the richest people in the world, Bloomberg reported.
During the meeting, both Altman and OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar said investors were concerned about Altman not having an equity stake. On Thursday, Reuters reported that OpenAI was considering changing to a for-profit benefit corporation, with the nonprofit entity remaining intact and being granted a minority stake in the for-profit side.
In response to a question about the possibility of Altman receiving equity, an OpenAI spokesperson directed Fortune to a statement by board chairman Bret Taylor.
“The board has had discussions about whether it would be beneficial to the company and our mission to have Sam be compensated with equity, but no specific figures have been discussed nor have any decisions been made,” Taylor said in the statement.
The changes come as recent executive departures force the company to shake up its leadership. On Wednesday, Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, stepped away from her role after six and a half years. Another two senior employees followed her out the door.
Murati wrote in a note published to X that she felt the time was right for her to depart.
“There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right,” she wrote in the note.
OpenAI has in recent months faced a wave of high-level exits, including those of two cofounders, Ilya Sutskever and John Schulman. Sutskever, a former board member, helped orchestrate Altman’s short-lived ouster from the company in November before leaving to start his own AI startup, Safe Superintelligence. Schulman left OpenAI to join competitor Anthropic.
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