RISK & REWARD

Forbes Declares OpenAI’s Sam Altman a Billionaire Thanks to Bold Investments

The OpenAI founder reportedly holds no stake in his own company, but has made billions by investing in others.

Though the rise of ChatGPT launched OpenAI founder Sam Altman to fame, it was his investments in other startups that ultimately made him a billionaire, a Forbes investigation found. Altman reportedly holds no equity in OpenAI—a strange move for a founder—but a series of critical and lucrative investing decisions that boosted smaller companies generated enormous wealth for him. “Sam is rare in that he’s a capable investor, but he’s also making bold bets,” LinkedIn co-founder and former OpenAI board director Reid Hoffman told Forbes. “A lot of investors are fearful of failing,” he added, but “Sam is very comfortable with taking the big bet.” Altman’s traceable holdings include early bets made in Y Combinator companies like Reddit and Stripe, as well as bigger and more recent investments into nuclear energy company Helion and longevity research firm Retro Biosciences. The latter two investments account for more than $555 million, Forbes reported. Altman also holds an estimated $90 million worth of real estate in California and Hawaii.