Altman: "No OpenAI Shares... Would Buy Stock If I Could Turn Back Time"

"Childhood Dream... More Valuable Than Income"

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has led the company to become a frontrunner in artificial intelligence (AI), but it is known that he does not actually hold any shares in the company.

According to CNBC on the 10th (local time), Altman revealed at the New York Times (NYT) 'DealBook Summit' on the 4th that he did not acquire any shares when OpenAI was launched in 2015.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is having a conversation at the 'K-Startups meet OpenAI' event hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 9th at 63 Square, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

He said, "I did not acquire any shares when OpenAI was launched at the end of 2015," adding, "I thought I needed to show that personal interests and professional interests could be separated, so I declined the shares."

Altman also stated that he currently receives an annual salary of $76,000 (approximately 109 million KRW) as CEO of OpenAI. Bloomberg reported on the 20th of last month, citing tax filings submitted by OpenAI to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, that Altman received a $76,000 salary last year.

Regarding working at OpenAI, he said, "At least for me, it is understandable that this is worth more than additional income." He continued, "This is my childhood dream job," and added, "Researching general AI and sitting in the same room with the smartest researchers in the world on this crazy adventure is what I have always wanted to do."

However, Altman said, "If I could turn back time, I would have bought at least some shares," adding, "I hope I never have to answer this question."

Altman’s decision not to acquire shares surprised investors as well. The market interpreted it as a signal that Altman did not expect OpenAI’s success. He mentioned the need to hold shares to dispel investor concerns.

CNBC evaluated this as unusual for a tech CEO. For example, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has received a base salary of $81,840 (approximately 117 million KRW) for decades but holds assets worth $242.6 billion (approximately 348.1795 trillion KRW) due to company shares. OpenAI was recently valued at $157 billion (approximately 225.3264 trillion KRW). Even acquiring just 1% of shares would be worth about 2 trillion KRW.

CNBC stated, "Altman probably does not need money," noting that he is already a billionaire as the former CEO of Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, and according to Forbes, he holds shares in Stripe, Reddit, and fusion energy company Helion, with assets totaling $1.1 billion.