The OpenAI President Who Invested Zero Dollars and Walked Away With $30 Billion
Greg Brockman confirmed Monday that OpenAI is exploring an IPO — and that he is sitting on a stake worth between $20 billion and $30 billion without having invested a dollar of his own money in the company.
When Musk's attorneys questioned Brockman on the witness stand, they had a simple opening: show me the money. They built their case on arrangements that predated ChatGPT, beginning with a 2017 email in which Sam Altman gave Brockman a $10 million stake in his personal investment vehicle as compensation for his work at OpenAI. "Naturally, Greg is going to have greater allegiance toward Sam as a result of this arrangement," Jared Birchall wrote in the message, which was read to jurors in Oakland federal court. WIRED Business Insider
Also in the court record: personal diary entries Brockman wrote in 2017 as the founders debated how to structure OpenAI's next phase. In one, he asked himself: "Financially, what will take me to $1B?" In another, he wrote that converting OpenAI to a for-profit structure without Musk would be "morally bankrupt." Business Insider Courthouse News Brockman testified the entries reflected frustration, not a plan.
The path from those arrangements to the witness stand is the number the Musk team keeps returning to: Brockman, who has never invested his own money directly in OpenAI, holds an equity stake currently worth between $20 billion and $30 billion, placing him among the wealthiest individuals on the planet. NBC News He said the stake was granted to him by OpenAI's board in 2018, before ChatGPT existed, and that he did not participate in the vote that awarded it.
Musk is suing Brockman and Altman for damages and seeking to restructure OpenAI, arguing that Altman and Brockman effectively looted the nonprofit to enrich themselves, turning a charitable research lab into a commercial enterprise worth hundreds of billions. Reuters WIRED
Central to that claim is the compensation structure that the 2017 Birchall email documented. Brockman testified that Musk was not present for the discussion and that decisions were made without him. "Elon's time was relatively hard to get," he said, "so there were a lot of decisions we made that we never fully broadcasted to him." Business Insider He and Altman disclosed the family office stake to Musk in 2017 when asked.
Also disclosed in court: a text exchange from two days before trial began, made public by OpenAI's lawyers on Sunday. WIRED Musk had messaged Brockman proposing settlement. Brockman offered mutual dismissal of claims. Musk replied: "By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so be it." Court Filing Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers refused to let the jury hear the message.
On the stand, Brockman argued the nonprofit's interest remains primary. He testified that OpenAI's foundation currently holds an equity stake valued at roughly $130 billion, making it one of the largest charitable organizations by assets in history. OpenAI "That is something that we built through blood, sweat and tears, during all these years since Elon left," he said. WIRED
Brockman has also invested in several companies — Cerebras, CoreWeave, and Helion Energy — each of which has signed commercial agreements with OpenAI. WIRED Those investments, and the $100,000 donation pledge he never paid, were major themes in Musk attorney Steven Molo's questioning. Business Insider
The case arrives as OpenAI navigates its own reckoning with public markets. Brockman confirmed Monday that OpenAI is exploring a potential IPO. Business Insider If the company goes public at its most recent valuation of $852 billion, NBC News the foundation's stake would be worth substantially more — and who controls a $130 billion nonprofit embedded inside a public company would become a governance question with stakes far beyond this courtroom.
The trial continues Tuesday with testimony from Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member and Musk's former romantic partner.