Greg Brockman, one of OpenAI’s cofounders, revealed in federal court that he owns one of the largest individual stakes in the ChatGPT maker. The company is now valued at around $30 billion, making his ownership worth potentially billions of dollars.
This is huge news because most people didn’t know how much OpenAI’s early team actually owns of the company. While CEO Sam Altman has said publicly that he doesn’t own OpenAI stock, other founders clearly do.
From Startup to Gold Mine
Brockman defended his massive stake by saying it represents his “blood, sweat, and tears” building the company from nothing. He’s been with OpenAI since 2015, back when it was just a research lab that most people had never heard of.
The revelation came during a court case where Brockman was testifying. OpenAI started as a nonprofit focused on safe AI research, but it created a for-profit arm in 2019 to raise the massive amounts of money needed to build systems like ChatGPT.
Brockman’s stake shows just how valuable OpenAI has become since ChatGPT exploded in popularity. The company has raised billions from Microsoft and other investors, with its valuation skyrocketing from almost nothing to one of the most valuable startups in the world.
What This Means
This gives us a rare peek into how OpenAI’s wealth is distributed among its founders. As the AI boom continues and OpenAI potentially goes public, these early stakes could become worth even more. For now, Brockman’s ownership shows that building the company behind ChatGPT has been very, very profitable for those who got in early.
