Meet OpenAI boss Sam Altman, who’s back in the ChatGPT developer’s CEO chair
A child prodigy whose life was changed by a Macintosh computer, Altman dropped out of Stanford University to found tech start-up Loopt, and now his net worth sits at an estimated US$500 million.
From Silicon Valley and beyond, all eyes have been fixed on Sam Altman and the drama at artificial intelligence company OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. First he was fired, then kingpin Microsoft got involved by briefly hiring him, and then OpenAI staff took a clear stand with support for Altman. Now he’s back at the helm of OpenAI – and the world is still reeling.
But just who is the 38-year-old entrepreneur who got his staff, Microsoft, and much of Silicon Valley on his side? Here’s what you need to know.
Sam Altman was a child prodigy
At just three years old, he fixed the family VCR. When he was eight, his parents got him a Macintosh LC II. Per New York Magazine, the computer changed everything, as it was “this dividing line in my life: before I had a computer and after”.
Altman grew up in St Louis, Missouri. He is the eldest child and has three siblings: Max, Jack, and Annie, who is nine years younger than him. His mom Connie Gibstine was a dermatologist, and his dad Jerry Altman, a property broker. “I am a midwestern Jew from an awkward childhood at best,” Sam said about himself to New York Magazine.
He came out as gay while in high school
Altman came out in high school, surprising his mother who thought he was “unisexual,” per New York Magazine. He commented during a 2020 podcast that his school was not the kind where “you would really stand up and talk about being gay and that was OK”.
At 17, he was asked to speak for National Coming Out Day, which a group of students protested against. Altman responded by appealing to the wider student body and ended with the lines: “Either you have tolerance to open community or you don’t, and you don’t get to pick and choose.”
The tech boss said one of the best things his parents did for him was to shower him with constant affirmations of love, telling him he could do anything, New York Magazine reported.
He dropped out of Stanford
In 2003, Altman enrolled at Stanford University. In his second year, he and his then boyfriend Nick Sivo worked on Loopt, a geo-tracking program for locating your friends. At the same time, there was a Summer Founders program that was part of the Y Combinator technology start-up accelerator. Altman applied for and won a US$6,000 investment. Altman dropped out of school in 2005 to focus on business.
He also got to spend a few months in Cambridge with fellow techies. Per New York Magazine, he claimed he worked so hard he got scurvy. Although he never got tested, he said he suffered from sore legs, bleeding gums, and extreme lethargy.
Later, Loopt got a US$175 million valuation, but its founders eventually sold it for US$43 million in 2012. Altman and Sivo dated for nine years but split after Loopt was sold, reported The New Yorker.
His net worth is believed to be around US$500 million
At just 28, Altman was chosen by Y Combinator founder Paul Graham to succeed him as president. His exact net worth is not known; however, multiple reports estimate it to be around US$500 million.
So how does he spend his money? Per New York Magazine, he said he likes racing cars and owns five, including two McLarens and an old Tesla.
His partner Oliver Mulherin is a software engineer
Altman and his partner Oliver Mulherin share a love of tech. Mulherin is reportedly a software engineer in the San Francisco Bay area. He worked as an engineer for Meta for two years. He studied at the University of Melbourne and has a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Altman told The New York Times that he and Mulherin live together in San Francisco during the week, and they move to a ranch in Napa, California over weekends. According to New York Magazine, the businessman and his partner want to have children soon.
