OpenAI CEO Sam Altman leads the $157 billion company. But his compensation from the AI giant is nothing. Altman was paid a minimum of $76,001 in 2023, according to a newly released tax filing first reported by Bloomberg. This means that the CEO of OpenAI only received a salary increase of 3 percent from 2022, when he is paid $73,546. But don't worry about Altman's financial situation—despite his meager salary (and he says he has no equity in OpenAI), Altman is worth millions thanks to a large investment network.
A former president of startup incubator Y Combinator, Altman has spent years in the world of startups and venture capital. His fortune was estimated at more than $2 billion as of March by Bloomberg, including investments worth $1.2 billion contained in all funds of a business connected to the name Hydrazine Capital and funds of $434 million in Apollo Projects, which invests in counterfeiting projects. .
Altman owns equity in a variety of emerging and established technology companies. This includes a $180 million investment in 2022 in longevity-focused Retro Sciences and a $375 million investment in the nuclear Fusion Helion startup in 2021. Most of the billion in wealth comes from the initial stake in payments company Stripe which is reportedly complete. less than two percent. And Altman owns about 12.2 million shares of Reddit (RDDT), giving him an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion.
How much do some key OpenAI employees make?
Altman's salary from OpenAI is large enough to cover “health insurance,” he told a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee last May. Despite recent reports suggesting that Altman could acquire a 7 percent stake in OpenAI as the company looks to transition to a for-profit company, the CEO reportedly shut down these rumors during a September all-hands meeting.
Although Altman's salary is small, other OpenAI employees reap the benefits of their company's success. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's former chief scientist who left the company earlier this year, received $322,201 in compensation last year, according to OpenAI's tax filing.
Sutskever played a key role in Altman's brief ouster as CEO last November, when Emmett Shear, the former head of Twitch, served as interim CEO for about three days before Altman was reinstated. Shear received a total of $3,720 during his interim leadership tenure.
Other top-paid OpenAI executives in 2023 include Chris Clark, who earned $347,354 for his role as secretary and treasurer. Clark also resigned from OpenAI earlier this year. Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI who is on sabbatical at the end of 2024, received a similar payment from Altman with compensation of $85,184 in 2023. OpenAI's tax filing does not include calculations regarding stock-based compensation.
Despite Altman's impressive salary, OpenAI's employee compensation is generally high—Elon Musk, a co-founder, even described it as “excellent” in legal filings against the AI company. High-end salaries for software engineers can reach more than $1 million, according to data from Levels.fyi, which reports an annual company compensation of $534,197.
