Greg Brockman's personal stake in OpenAI is worth nearly $30 billion, the company's president and co-founder testified Monday in an Oakland federal courtroom, placing him among the 100 wealthiest people in the world with wealth comparable to Melinda French Gates. The disclosure came during the second week of Elon Musk's multibillion-dollar lawsuit against OpenAI, which accuses Brockman and CEO Sam Altman of abandoning the company's nonprofit mission to enrich themselves. Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages and the removal of both men from leadership.
Brockman agreed under questioning that his stake was worth close to $30 billion, a figure not previously public. He also disclosed that he did not personally invest any money in OpenAI, according to the Associated Press.
Musk's attorney Steven Molo pressed Brockman on a 2017 journal entry in which he wrote: "Financially, what will take me to $1B?" Molo asked why Brockman had not donated the bulk of his earnings back to OpenAI's nonprofit foundation. OpenAI's attorney objected, calling the questioning "theatrical grandstanding." The testimony exposed financial ties between Brockman and Altman that go beyond OpenAI equity. In 2017, Altman gave Brockman a stake in Altman's personal family office that was worth $10 million at the time, according to Reuters.
Emails read in court showed that Jared Birchall, Musk's head of family office, wrote to Musk about the arrangement: "One thing worth mentioning now is that he compensated Greg on the side by giving him a percentage ownership of Sam's personal family office." Birchall added the deal could mean "Greg is going to have a greater allegiance to Sam as a result of this arrangement." Musk forwarded the email to Brockman with two question marks. When asked whether the arrangement compromised his loyalty to OpenAI's mission, Brockman replied: "I don't know I would say it quite like that."
Brockman also disclosed stakes in two Altman-backed startups: AI chip company Cerebras and fusion energy startup Helion Energy, where Altman has invested hundreds of millions of dollars. OpenAI has said it will spend a amount on Cerebras chips this year, and Altman stepped down from Helion's board in March as the two companies explored working together.
Since launching ChatGPT in late 2022, OpenAI has raised well over $100 billion from investors and is positioning toward a potential trillion-dollar IPO, which Brockman confirmed the company is exploring. The trial took an additional turn Sunday, when OpenAI's lawyers filed a motion to admit a text message Musk sent Brockman two days before proceedings began. According to the filing, Musk texted to gauge Brockman's interest in a settlement. When Brockman suggested both sides drop their claims, Musk replied: "By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be." Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not admit the exchange as evidence.
OpenAI's lawyers argued the text "tends to prove motive and bias, and, in particular, that Mr. Musk's motivation in pursuing this lawsuit is to attack a competitor and its principals."
