The current practice in public companies is to compensate executives in the form of their shares. It is this business tradition that has made Elon Musk the richest man on the planet; the basis of his wealth is formed by Tesla shares. Apparently, Sam Altman, who heads OpenAI, may follow in Musk’s footsteps.
Image source: OpenAI
As reported yesterday, a possible restructuring scheme being discussed by the OpenAI board of directors could concentrate up to 7% of the company’s shares in the hands of Altman, who will give up the leadership of his non-profit structure. Later, Reuters clarified that Sam Altman’s remuneration scheme for his work will provide for the allocation of OpenAI shares to him, although the parameters of this compensation have not yet been approved. The chairman of the board of directors of the startup, Bret Taylor, admitted this.
Until now, Altman, one of the two founders who retained his post on the staff of the company, did not own OpenAI shares. He himself explained this by the need to retain a majority of members on the board of directors who do not own shares in the startup. Yesterday’s announcements about the resignation of OpenAI CTO Mira Murati and two other high-ranking executives Altman urged not to be associated with the upcoming and discussed restructuring. As Reuters notes, the reform scheme implies that OpenAI, which has become a commercial company, will no longer be controlled by the board of directors of a non-profit organization. This board will remain part of the management structure of the for-profit company, but will own only a small stake in the for-profit entity.
According to Altman, yesterday’s changes in OpenAI’s leadership are not related to the upcoming restructuring and have been prepared independently for almost a year. He also confirmed that the company is “thinking about what needs to be done to move into the next phase of its development.” The ongoing changes in OpenAI’s management structure, according to Altman, will help him interact more closely with technical specialists. The ongoing transformations will make the company stronger, in his opinion.