Millionaire with a meager salary: it turned out how much the head of OpenAI earns

It is widely believed that the salaries of top managers of tech giants are measured in the millions. Surprisingly, according to his tax return, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman earned just $76,001 in 2022. His salary was up 3.4% from the previous year.

Image source: OpenAI Forum

OpenAI’s CEO salary increased from $73,546 in 2022 to $76,001 in 2023, according to tax returns obtained by Bloomberg. This is significantly less than OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who earned the most in the company – $322,201 for the year. OpenAI CFO Chris Clark earned the same amount.

Notably, Emmett Shear, who served as OpenAI CEO for about 72 hours last November when Altman was ousted, received $3,720 during that period. It should also be noted that the tax returns do not mention any of the bonuses and compensation in the form of shares and options that executives of large companies typically receive.

Altman has mentioned his modest salary in the past. At a Senate subcommittee meeting in May 2023, he said he was “paid enough for health insurance” and received no shares in OpenAI.

In September, OpenAI’s board of directors discussed giving Altman shares following the decision to convert OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity. Altman later told employees that he had no plans to take a “giant stake” in the company, which this year reached a valuation of $157 billion after raising another $6.6 billion investment. Rumors have it that Altman could take a 7% stake in OpenAI, increasing his fortune of more than $10 billion.

It is far from certain that Altman is interested in receiving such a large-scale option, because this could negatively affect his passionate image, especially since even without a stake in OpenAI, his personal fortune is estimated at more than $2 billion. Altman’s fortune includes investments of $1. 2 billion in various venture funds and other companies – his stake in Reddit alone is estimated at more than $1 billion. Taking these facts into account, Altman’s purchase of a mansion in San Francisco for $27 million is quite explainable.

It was previously reported that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella increased his compensation package by 63% to $79 million. Direct salary payments were cut by 50% to $5.2 million, and he received the rest in the form of a stake in the company .

It is worth noting that not all top managers are so absorbed in their financial well-being. Back in the early 1900s, during World War I, a concept arose in the United States in which various industry leaders offered their services to the government for a payment of one dollar. Then the number of such workers reached a thousand people. Recent examples of famous people receiving $1 salaries include former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. US President-elect Donald Trump, having promised to receive only a dollar a year in November 2016, has fulfilled his campaign promise. He donated his salary to various federal departments.