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Sam Altman, Lately

A few day ago, YCombinator boss Paul Graham posted an image on X1, providing an explanation behind Altman’s departure from YCombinator’s main leadership position. Graham’s attempt to dispel rumors of Altman’s supposed firing didn’t work as well as... | Of the Clock | Not for human consumption.

While responding to replies, it seems that Graham was informed — and later confirmed — that Altman had, in a pretty clear conflict of interest and obviously unbeknownst to YCombinator leadership, invested a tidy sum of $10 million into OpenAI’s for-profit arm. In it, his investments in Helion ($375mil) & Retro ($180mil) were stated as being “almost all of his liquid wealth.” He was also known to be apart of other projects — including Worldcoin — though the steep growth of his fortune, going from reported between $500-$700 million in March 2023, to $2.8 billion in less than 12 months later is pretty incredible. The fact that he’s so clearly financially tied to OpenAI through a diverse set of investments kind of throws the idea that he only takes a $65,000 salary for altruistic reasons directly out of the window.

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