Altman has been associated with Y Combinator since its inception and his startup, Loopt, was part of the first Y Combinator batch in 2005. He has made over 100 personal investments in various startups, including Asana, Cruise, Instacart, Humane, Lattice, Neuralink, and Reddit. After selling Loopt in 2012, he founded and ran a $21 million VC fund, Hydrazine Capital, which primarily invested in Y Combinator companies and had grown tenfold in four years.
Key takeaways:
- Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has a net worth estimated between $500 million and $750 million, primarily derived from his investments, not from OpenAI.
- Despite OpenAI's high valuation, Altman doesn't hold any equity in the company. He has stated that he has enough money and values an interesting life and impact more than additional wealth.
- OpenAI was originally a non-profit, but shifted to a for-profit model in 2019 to raise funds for AI research. It now has a for-profit branch, OpenAI LP, and a non-profit part, OpenAI Inc.
- Altman has been associated with Y Combinator since its inception and has made over 100 personal investments in startups across different industries. He also founded and ran a $21 million VC fund, Hydrazine Capital, which mainly invested in Y Combinator companies.