Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has recruited Mike Liberatore, who previously served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at xAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
According to CNBC on September 16 (local time), an OpenAI spokesperson announced that Liberatore would begin his work at the company on the same day. He will report to CFO Sarah Friar and is expected to collaborate with the team responsible for managing the company’s contracts and capital, the spokesperson said.
Liberatore served as CFO at xAI for three months starting in April. During his tenure, he assisted with $5 billion in debt financing, secured $5 billion in equity investment, and helped approve key data center expansion plans. Previously, he held senior finance roles at eBay and PayPal, and worked at Airbnb for approximately nine years.
Liberatore’s recruitment by OpenAI comes amid escalating tensions between CEO Altman and CEO Musk. When OpenAI was founded in 2015, Musk participated as an investor. Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit seeking to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit entity. In response, OpenAI countersued Musk in April, describing his actions as “malicious tactics aimed at hindering OpenAI’s growth.”
Additionally, in February, an investor consortium led by Musk submitted a proposal to OpenAI to acquire a controlling stake for $97.4 billion, which OpenAI’s board unanimously rejected, calling it a fake acquisition attempt intended to disrupt the company. Musk had previously resigned from OpenAI’s board in 2018 and sold all his investment shares.
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