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Sam Altman
American entrepreneur and investor (born 1985)
- Entries
- 9
- On the record
- 2
- Stories
- 3
- Latest entry
- Mar 20, 2026
The record
Sam Altman's record begins at Y Combinator, where he was a founder in the accelerator's first funded batch in 2005 and became its president in 2014. OpenAI's own posts name him chief executive from the 2019 creation of its capped-profit arm, and in May 2023 he gave evidence to a Senate subcommittee on how AI should be regulated.
The most documented episode is his removal and return in November 2023. OpenAI's board said he had not been consistently candid with it; by 29 November he was back as chief executive under a new board, and an outside law firm's review cleared his return in March 2024.
Separately, his sister sued him in federal court in Missouri in January 2025 over alleged childhood abuse. He denies the claims and countersued for defamation and abuse of process; the court dismissed her original claims as untimely in March 2026, with leave to amend.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Reported
Sam Altman co-chaired OpenAI's nonprofit board alongside Elon Musk at its founding, per OpenAI's blog post. Musk's OpenAI suit dismissed: the jury faulted his timing
Stories in this file
Business ยท โ๏ธ New York Times v OpenAI: 'billions' sought, fair use claimed
The Times seeks 'billions of dollars'; OpenAI and Microsoft say training is fair use. No merits ruling appears in the record read. โณ
RANKEDPhoto: Mark Stebnicki ยท Pexels License๐ค Judge OKs Anthropic's $1.5B authors' deal; OpenAI case waits
One court-approved payout for pirated books, one fair-use ruling on training, no merits ruling yet in the Times suit. OpenAI says its use is fair. โณ
Business ยท โฐ Musk's OpenAI suit dismissed: the jury faulted his timing
The jury never ruled on whether going for-profit broke OpenAI's founding charter - only on how long Musk waited to challenge it. โณ
The record, entry by entry
- 2014-02-21 Official Paul Graham announced that Altman would take over as president of Y Combinator from the next batch, after a recruiting effort that took more than a year. Y Combinator blog
- 2019-03-11 Official OpenAI announced OpenAI LP, a capped-profit company whose first investors' returns were limited to 100 times their stake, and listed Altman as CEO on the nonprofit board. OpenAI announcement
- 2023-05-16 Reported Testifying to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Altman proposed a U.S. or global agency that would license the most powerful AI systems and could revoke those licences, PBS NewsHour reported. PBS NewsHour report on the hearing
- 2023-11-17 Official OpenAI's board removed him as chief executive, saying he was not consistently candid in his communications with it, and named chief technology officer Mira Murati interim CEO. OpenAI announcement
- 2023-11-29 Official He returned as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor as chair, Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo, plus a non-voting observer seat for Microsoft. OpenAI announcement
- 2024-03-08 Official WilmerHale's review, based on dozens of interviews and over 30,000 documents, found the prior board acted within its discretion but that his conduct did not require removal. He rejoined the board. OpenAI announcement
- 2025-01-06 Filed His sister filed a civil suit against him in the Eastern District of Missouri alleging childhood sexual abuse between 1997 and 2006. He denies it, and his counterclaim calls the allegations false. U.S. District Court, E.D. Mo., memorandum and order
- 2026-03-20 Ruled The court dismissed her common-law claims as time-barred, allowed an amended complaint by April 3, 2026, and let his defamation and abuse-of-process counterclaims proceed. U.S. District Court, E.D. Mo., memorandum and order
Documents
- Y Combinator blog, Sam Altman for President (2014)
- OpenAI, OpenAI LP announcement (2019)
- OpenAI, leadership transition announcement (17 Nov 2023)
- OpenAI, Altman returns as CEO (29 Nov 2023)
- OpenAI, review completed (8 Mar 2024)
- Memorandum and order, Altman v. Altman, No. 4:25-cv-00017 (E.D. Mo. 2026)