Sam Altman once owned certain shares in OpenAI through Sequoia

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sat down to testify before Congress in 2023 about the dangers of artificial intelligence. He told American lawmakers about it he has no shares in OpenAIsomething he has said many times, claiming that he runs the company simply because he loves her.

However, Altman recently said that at one point he owned some equity in OpenAI through his Sequoia fund, a stake he has since sold. In Interview with Bari Weiss Altman, who was released Thursday, was asked what stake he might have in OpenAI if it successfully becomes a commercial company.

Here’s what the CEO of OpenAI had to say:

“I have a small investment from my old YC fund – I used to have money through the Sequoia fund, but he liked to sell and I didn’t hold the position – so I have a very small amount. it’s irrelevant to me. I don’t know what will or won’t happen next. There are no current plans or promises to buy me anything.”

Although Altman’s investment through Y Combinator was known, his investment through Sequoia was not. OpenAI discloses Altman’s indirect investment in his company through YC on their website. The startup says this “small investment” is the CEO’s “sole interest” in the company, and it was made before he worked full-time at OpenAI.

Sequoia first invested in OpenAI in 2021 his websiteTwo years after Altman became OpenAI’s full-time CEO. At the time, OpenAI was valued at around $14 billion, making it undervalued. $157 billion after the startup’s last funding round earlier this year – He also participated in the Sequoia tour.

Although Sequoia’s stake in OpenAI is now worth more than 2021, there are several unknowns surrounding Altman’s investment through the venture firm. Venture firms like Sequoia are not required to disclose their limited partner investors. It is not clear when or how much Altman sold the stake.

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch that Altman had been previously exposed, but did not elaborate on those aspects.

“Sam has never had direct ownership in OpenAI. He had a small stake in a general Sequoia fund with a broad portfolio, which he later learned had minimal exposure to OpenAI,” OpenAI spokeswoman Kayla Wood told TechCrunch. “Sam no longer has any commitments to the fund.”

Most CEOs own stock in the companies they manage. If they run a public company, the largest percentage of the CEO’s salary is equity. And of course, startup founders start the journey by owning all the stock in their company, until they issue shares to employees and sell parts to investors. But OpenAI was founded as a non-profit organization, has a strange structure, and Altman has repeatedly said it has no owners. Just this month, Altman said he has no equity in OpenAI The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.

during a May interview with All on the podcastThe OpenAI CEO said he initially decided not to take equity in the company due to its corporate structure. Because of that charterOpenAI’s nonprofit board is required to be filled by a majority of independent directors, meaning they cannot own equity in the company. Altman says this led to him not taking any equity to become one of the independent directors. However, this has led many to question the CEO’s motives at the company, which Altman said is one of the reasons the company is moving to a for-profit model and giving it direct capital.

Altman’s stake in OpenAI is also becoming increasingly relevant as a company is trying to switch to a commercial branchnow run by a non-profit board, it is becoming an independent company. OpenAI is also said to be thinking Provision of certain equity to the CEO In this transition, the company and Altman denied that there were no plans.

OpenAI’s for-profit transition Currently, there is a risk of being eclipsed by Elon Musk’s claim against the beginning. At its core, Musk’s lawsuit claims that OpenAI is abandoning its original non-profit mission to make the fruits of AI research available to everyone. However, OpenAI recently claimed this Musk wanted to turn the startup for profit from the beginning.

At one point in Altman’s interview with Weiss, he called OpenAI CEO Elon Musk a “bully” who “openly likes to fight.” At another point, Altman criticized Meta for asking California’s attorney general to block OpenAI’s profit-shifting.

“I don’t know why Meta sent this letter, but I know they know how it works. I know that part is malicious,” Altman said. “You can imagine many other reasons why Meta sent this letter. You can imagine they wanted to curry favor with Elon, you can imagine they felt it would help them compete with us.

While the company says Altman’s exposure to OpenAI through Sequoia is insignificant, Altman’s comments about not having any equity in OpenAI are hard to square with Weiss’s latest revelations on his podcast.