# Sam Altman

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/sam_altman
> Summary: Samuel Harris Altman (born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and technology executive. He is a co-founder and the chief executive officer of OpenAI, and he previously served as president of Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019.
> Updated: 2026-07-29
> Fact-checked: 2026-07-29
> Categories: AI Companies, Artificial Intelligence
> License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - attribute to "AI Wiki (aiwiki.ai)"
> Cite as: AI Wiki. "Sam Altman." aiwiki.ai, 29 Jul 2026. https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/sam_altman
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), the free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Reuse freely with attribution.

| Sam Altman | |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Samuel Harris Altman |
| Born | April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | Stanford University (attended, no degree) |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur, investor, technology executive |
| Current roles | CEO of OpenAI; director of the OpenAI Foundation; chair of Tools for Humanity |
| Spouse | Oliver Mulherin (m. 2024) |

**Samuel Harris Altman** (born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and technology executive. He is a co-founder and the chief executive officer of [OpenAI](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/openai), and he previously served as president of [Y Combinator](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/y_combinator) from 2014 to 2019. Earlier, he co-founded the location-sharing company Loopt. Altman became one of the most visible executives in the [generative AI](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/generative_ai) industry after OpenAI released [ChatGPT](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/chatgpt) in 2022.[1][2]

Altman's leadership has also been the subject of sustained scrutiny. OpenAI's board removed him as CEO in November 2023, saying that he had not been consistently candid with the board, but he returned days later after a staff revolt and a change in board leadership. He has since led OpenAI through a large infrastructure program, a corporate recapitalization, and new fundraising. OpenAI said that Altman did not receive an equity stake in its 2025 recapitalization.[3]

## Early life and education

Altman was born in Chicago and grew up in the St. Louis area in a middle-class Jewish family. He learned to program on a Macintosh as a child and attended John Burroughs School. As a teenager, he came out as gay and addressed a school assembly after some students objected to an event about sexuality. He enrolled at Stanford University in 2003, studied computer science, and worked in its artificial intelligence laboratory. He left after two years without completing a degree to work full time on Loopt.[1][4]

## Loopt and Y Combinator

Altman and two classmates founded Loopt, a mobile service that let users share their locations with friends. It was one of the eight companies in Y Combinator's first batch in 2005. Loopt raised venture funding and reached agreements with mobile carriers, but it did not develop a large consumer market. Green Dot Corporation agreed to acquire the company in 2012. Green Dot's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission described $40 million in aggregate cash consideration, subject to a working-capital adjustment not expected to exceed $3.4 million. About $9.8 million of the adjusted amount was to be placed in an employee retention pool. This is more precise than describing the transaction simply as a $43.4 million payment to Loopt's shareholders.[4][5]

After the sale, Altman formed the venture fund Hydrazine Capital. A 2016 profile in *The New Yorker* reported that the initial fund raised $21 million and invested heavily in Y Combinator companies.[4]

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham announced in February 2014 that Altman would become the accelerator's president beginning with the next batch. Graham said that he wanted the organization to grow and regarded Altman, a founder from its first cohort, as suited to lead that expansion.[6] In May 2019, Geoff Ralston succeeded Altman as president. Altman said that he was leaving to focus more fully on OpenAI and would remain an adviser to Y Combinator.[7]

## OpenAI

### Founding and early structure

OpenAI was announced on December 11, 2015 as a nonprofit [artificial intelligence](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/artificial_intelligence) research company. Altman and [Elon Musk](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/elon_musk) were its co-chairs, while Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever led its engineering and research work. The announcement said that funders had committed $1 billion, while also stating that only a small fraction was expected to be spent in the first several years. It therefore distinguished the commitment from cash spent at launch.[8]

In March 2019, OpenAI created OpenAI LP, a for-profit limited partnership controlled by the nonprofit. OpenAI said the change was intended to let it raise the capital needed for computing and staff while retaining mission control in the nonprofit. It described returns for the first round of investors as capped at 100 times their investment. The same announcement identified Altman as CEO.[9]

OpenAI released ChatGPT as a research preview on November 30, 2022. The product used a conversational interface and reinforcement learning from human feedback, and OpenAI's launch page explicitly noted that it could produce plausible but incorrect answers.[10] ChatGPT's rapid adoption made Altman a prominent public advocate for, and representative of, large-scale [language models](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/large_language_model).[1]

### Removal and return in 2023

On November 17, 2023, OpenAI's board removed Altman as CEO. Its public statement said a review had concluded that he was not consistently candid in communications with the board and that the board had lost confidence in his leadership. The statement did not identify a specific act of misconduct.[11] More than 700 employees then signed a letter demanding that the board resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman, while threatening to leave for a planned [Microsoft](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/microsoft) unit if those demands were not met.[12]

OpenAI announced Altman's return as CEO on November 29, with Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo forming an initial replacement board. The company also commissioned WilmerHale to review the events.[13] In March 2024, OpenAI published a summary of that review. It said WilmerHale had examined more than 30,000 documents and conducted dozens of interviews. The summary found a breakdown in trust between Altman and the former board, found that the removal was not prompted by concerns about product safety, security, development pace, finances, or statements to business partners, and concluded that Altman's conduct did not mandate removal. It also said that the former board acted within its broad discretion. Because OpenAI's own special committee commissioned and published the review, its conclusions are corporate findings rather than a judicial determination.[14]

### Infrastructure, recapitalization, and financing

In January 2025, OpenAI and SoftBank announced the [Stargate Project](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/stargate_project), a new company that they said intended to invest $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure over four years and to begin deploying $100 billion. SoftBank was assigned financial responsibility and OpenAI operational responsibility, with Oracle and MGX also named as initial equity funders. These figures describe announced intentions and deployment plans, not verified expenditure already completed.[15]

OpenAI completed a recapitalization in October 2025. Under the structure described by the company, the OpenAI Foundation controls OpenAI Group PBC through special governance rights and appoints its directors. At closing, the Foundation held 26 percent of OpenAI Group, Microsoft held about 27 percent, and current and former employees and investors held the remaining 47 percent. Altman sits on the Foundation board but is not its chair.[2] On the day the recapitalization was announced, OpenAI told Reuters that Altman would not receive a stake in the restructured company.[3]

On March 31, 2026, OpenAI reported that it had closed a funding round with $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation. Those numbers are OpenAI's account of its financing and valuation.[16]

## Other ventures and investments

Altman co-founded Tools for Humanity with Alex Blania and Max Novendstern in 2019 and serves as its chair. The company developed technology for World, a protocol combining a biometric proof-of-person system, a digital wallet, and the WLD token. Tools for Humanity says that the independent World Foundation is the protocol's initial steward and that the company provides software, hardware, manufacturing, and market-operations services to it.[17]

Altman has also made large investments in energy companies. Helion Energy said that he had been an investor and chair since 2015 and that he led its $500 million Series E financing in 2021. The financing included the possibility of a further $1.7 billion tied to performance milestones; those milestone-dependent funds were not part of the initial $500 million close.[18] In March 2026, Altman stepped down from Helion's board as Helion and OpenAI explored working together at significant scale. Reuters reported that he retained a financial interest and said he would recuse himself from deal negotiations.[19]

Altman served on the board of the nuclear-fission company [Oklo](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/oklo). Oklo's 2025 proxy statement said that he resigned effective April 22, 2025 and that the departure did not result from a disagreement with the company.[20]

## Public policy and research

Altman testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law on May 16, 2023. He supported government regulation of increasingly capable AI systems and suggested licensing and testing requirements for models above a capability threshold. He also called for safety requirements and international coordination. His testimony framed these as policy proposals, not as rules already in force.[21]

Altman funded OpenResearch, an organization that began as YC Research. OpenResearch conducted a randomized study in which 1,000 low-income participants received $1,000 a month for three years and 2,000 control participants received $50 a month.[22] An NBER working paper based on the study estimated that, relative to the control group, the larger transfer reduced individual income excluding the transfers by about $1,800 per year, reduced labor-market participation by 4.1 percentage points, and reduced work by roughly one to two hours per week. It found no improvement in job quality and reported short-lived gains in subjective well-being. The authors characterized the labor-supply effect as moderate. These findings provide mixed evidence and do not establish that a nationwide universal basic income policy would produce the same results.[23]

In 2024, Altman and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, signed the Giving Pledge. Their letter said that they intended to focus their giving on technology that helps create abundance. The Giving Pledge describes itself as a public promise to give a majority of one's wealth to charitable causes during life or through a will; it is a pledge rather than a record that the assets have already been donated.[24]

## Legal proceedings

In August 2024, Musk filed a federal action against Altman, Brockman, OpenAI-related entities, and others. Musk alleged that he had been induced to support a nonprofit committed to broadly beneficial AI before OpenAI moved toward a commercial structure; the defendants denied wrongdoing. The Northern District of California listed the case as *Musk v. Altman et al.*, No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR.[25] In May 2026, a nine-person advisory jury found that Musk had filed his claims after the applicable limitation periods. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers adopted the verdict and dismissed the claims. The decision resolved the case on timeliness and did not decide whether Musk's underlying allegations were true.[26]

In January 2025, Altman's sister Ann Altman filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse; he denied the allegations. In March 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the original common-law claims as time-barred but granted leave to file an amended complaint under a Missouri statute. The same order declined to dismiss most of Sam Altman's abuse-of-process and defamation counterclaims at the pleading stage and struck his request for legal fees after he withdrew it. These were procedural rulings, and the court expressly did not decide whether either side's factual allegations were true.[27][28]

## Personal life

Altman is gay. His public discussion of coming out in high school has been documented since at least 2016.[4] He married Australian software engineer Oliver Mulherin in January 2024; Altman confirmed the marriage to NBC News after photographs circulated online.[29] The couple's joint Giving Pledge was published in May 2024.[24]

## See also

- [Artificial General Intelligence](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/artificial_general_intelligence)
- [AI safety](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/ai_safety)

## References

1. Naina Bajekal and Billy Perrigo, "CEO of the Year 2023: Sam Altman," *TIME*, December 6, 2023. https://time.com/6342827/ceo-of-the-year-2023-sam-altman/
2. OpenAI, "Our structure," updated after the October 2025 recapitalization. https://openai.com/our-structure/
3. Reuters, "OpenAI says CEO Altman will not get a stake in newly restructured firm," October 28, 2025. https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/openai-says-ceo-altman-will-not-get-a-stake-in-newly-restructured-firm-4314045
4. Tad Friend, "Sam Altman's Manifest Destiny," *The New Yorker*, October 3, 2016. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/sam-altmans-manifest-destiny
5. Green Dot Corporation, Form 8-K concerning the Loopt acquisition, filed March 14, 2012. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1386278/000138627812000035/a2012-03x08form8xkxlooptac.htm
6. Paul Graham, "Sam Altman for President," Y Combinator, February 21, 2014. https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/sam-altman-for-president%26lang%3Den
7. Sam Altman, "Geoff Ralston for President," Y Combinator, May 20, 2019. https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/geoff-ralston-for-president
8. OpenAI, "Introducing OpenAI," December 11, 2015. https://openai.com/index/introducing-openai/
9. OpenAI, "OpenAI LP," March 11, 2019. https://openai.com/index/openai-lp/
10. OpenAI, "Introducing ChatGPT," November 30, 2022. https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
11. OpenAI, "OpenAI announces leadership transition," November 17, 2023. https://openai.com/index/openai-announces-leadership-transition/
12. Scott Rosenberg, "Hundreds of OpenAI staff tell board to resign or they'll quit," *Axios*, updated November 20, 2023. https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/openai-staff-letter-board-resign-sam-altman
13. OpenAI, "Sam Altman returns as CEO, OpenAI has a new initial board," November 29, 2023. https://openai.com/index/sam-altman-returns-as-ceo-openai-has-a-new-initial-board/
14. OpenAI, "Review completed and Altman, Brockman to continue to lead OpenAI," March 8, 2024. https://openai.com/index/review-completed-altman-brockman-to-continue-to-lead-openai/
15. OpenAI and SoftBank, "Announcing The Stargate Project," January 21, 2025. https://openai.com/index/announcing-the-stargate-project/
16. OpenAI, "OpenAI raises $122 billion to accelerate the next phase of AI," March 31, 2026. https://openai.com/index/accelerating-the-next-phase-ai/
17. World, "About World," section on Tools for Humanity, accessed July 28, 2026. https://world.org/about
18. Helion Energy, "Helion Raises $500 Million, Targets 2024 for Demonstrating Net Electricity from Fusion," November 5, 2021. https://www.helionenergy.com/newsroom/helion-raises-500m
19. Reuters, "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman exits Helion Energy's board as firms explore partnership," March 23, 2026. https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/openai-ceo-sam-altman-exits-helion-energys-board-as-firms-explore-partnership-4576180
20. Oklo Inc., definitive proxy statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, April 22, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1849056/000162828025018885/oklo-20250422.htm
21. U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, *Oversight of A.I.: Rules for Artificial Intelligence*, hearing record, May 16, 2023, especially the statement of Samuel Altman. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118shrg52706/html/CHRG-118shrg52706.htm
22. Paresh Dave, "Here's What Happens When You Give People Free Money," *WIRED*, July 22, 2024. https://www.wired.com/story/sam-altmans-big-basic-income-study-is-finally-out/
23. Eva Vivalt, Elizabeth Rhodes, Alexander W. Bartik, David E. Broockman, Patrick Krause, and Sarah Miller, "The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States," NBER Working Paper 32719, July 2024, revised January 2026. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32719/w32719.pdf
24. Sam Altman and Oliver Mulherin, Giving Pledge letter, May 18, 2024. https://www.givingpledge.org/pledger/sam-altman-and-oliver-mulherin/
25. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, case page for *Musk v. Altman et al.*, No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR. https://cand.uscourts.gov/cases-e-filing/cases/424-cv-04722-ygr/musk-v-altman-et-al
26. Associated Press, "Federal court rejects Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI, saying he filed his lawsuit too late," May 18, 2026. https://apnews.com/article/0b9b0bfaffe96f2c930341f52dfe4f8c
27. Reuters, "OpenAI CEO Altman seeks dismissal of sister's punitive damages claims in sexual abuse lawsuit," April 15, 2026. https://m.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/openai-ceo-altman-seeks-dismissal-of-sisters-punitive-damages-claims-in-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-4616988?ampMode=1
28. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, memorandum and order in *Altman v. Altman*, No. 4:25-cv-00017-ZMB, March 20, 2026. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moed.217171/gov.uscourts.moed.217171.48.0.pdf
29. David Ingram, "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman marries partner Oliver Mulherin in seaside ceremony," NBC News, January 11, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/sam-altman-oliver-mulherin-ollie-wedding-married-partner-boyfriend-rcna133512