OpenAI may soon be the world’s most valuable private company—but CEO Sam Altman won’t profit much, with no equity and just a $76,001 salary
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OpenAI CEO Sam didn’t build his fortune off his modest CEO salary—the tech titan worth $1.9 billion instead made critical early investments in Uber, Airbnb, and Reddit that yielded hundreds of million...
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August 21, 2025
03:42 PM
Fortune
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Success·OpenAIOpenAI may soon be the world’s most valuable private company—but CEO Sam Altman won’t fit much, with no equity and just a $76,001 salaryBy Emma BurleighBy Emma BurleighReporter, SuccessEmma BurleighReporter, SuccessEmma Burleigh is a reporter at Fortune, covering success, careers, entrepreneurship, and personal finance
Before joining the Success desk, she co-authored Fortune’s CHRO Daily , extensively covering the workplace and the future of jobs
Emma has also written for publications including the Observer and The China ject, publishing long-form stories on culture, entertainment, and geo
She has a joint-master’s degree from New York University in Global Journalism and East Asian Studies.SEE FULL BIO OpenAI CEO Sam didn’t build his fortune off his modest CEO salary—the titan’s $1.9 billion net worth is thanks to early investments in Uber, Airbnb, Reddit and more.Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty ImagesOpenAI is on the brink of becoming the world’s most valuable private company, anticipated to reach a $500 billion valuation after a $6 billion planned s sale
But its cofounder and CEO Sam Altman won’t be shooting up the billionaire list for the major accomplishment—he currently holds zero equity in the AI company, earning an annual salary of $76,001
Instead, the bulk of his $1.9 billion fortune comes from his early investments in industry titans, including Reddit, Uber, Asana, and Airbnb
The AI race is one of the hottest wars this decade, with the market expected to be worth $4.8 trillion by 2033
And OpenAI has been a frontrunner in the fierce battle, with ChatGPT amassing a staggering 800 million active users, according to CEO Sam Altman
It’s now on the cusp of becoming the world’s most valuable company, with talks to sell $6 billion in s that would push its valuation to $500 billion—up from its $300 billion appraisal in March after a $40 billion infusion from backers Microsoft and SoftBank
That leap would see OpenAI overtake Elon Musk’s SpaceX which currently tops all other at $350 billion
However, even if OpenAI pulls off the envy-worthy valuation, you bably won’t catch Altman shooting up the billionaires list off the back of it
The CEO currently earns a salary of $76,001, up slightly from $73,546 in 2022, for leading the pioneering company
The billionaire boss said he makes “whatever the minimum for health insurance is,” according to the New York Times—but more surprisingly, owns zero equity in OpenAI
At one point he owned a “quite insignificant” indirect stake in the company through a Sequoia-backed VC fund associated with Y Combinator
But an OpenAI spokesperson told Crunch that the was reportedly less than a fraction of a percent, and has already been sold for an undisclosed amount
Altman’s lack of equity is quite unusual; most CEOs have some skin in the game, standing to make big wins or crushing losses depending on how they lead their companies
But he has other tricks up his sleeve to bring the bacon
Fortune reached out to OpenAI for
Atlman is a billionaire with a $76,001 salary—Here’s how he makes his fortune Just because Altman doesn’t own a part of OpenAI, doesn’t mean he’s living paycheck-to-paycheck on his modest CEO salary
The 40-year-old entrepreneur currently boasts a net worth of $1.9 billion—starkly lower than the CEO of the company he’s trying to outpace, as Musk sits on a $410 billion fortune
But he’s still amassed a sizable nest egg thanks to his diverse investments across several industries
Altman is a major backer of Helion Energy, a nu fusion startup where he poured in a $375 million personal investment and currently sits as chairman
He’s supported bio company Retro Biosciences with a $180 million investment, and also participated in funding rounds for Musk’s brain-computer science company Neuralink
Aside from the sciences, Altman was also an early backer of ductivity management platform Asana and Reddit, serving as a board member of the platform until 2022
His stake in Reddit was estimated to be worth $600 million after the platform’s IPO
The OpenAI CEO also made a lucky early infusion of $100,000 in Airbnb back in 2008 when the company was in its short-term rental infancy
Plus, there was his early $100,000 investment in Uber—and now, the is worth $194 billion
Altman also financially supported creator monetization platform Patreon, even putting his money towards other AI-focused companies including $35 billion titan Humane
After nearly a decade of steering Y Combinator from 2011 to 2019, Altman got first hand insight into what gets funded, what crashes out, and what can actually scale
The millennial billionaire’s diverse portfolio of investments span transformational nology, nu energy, fin, and social platforms
All the holdings he controlled up to early 2024 were estimated to be worth at least $2.8 billion, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal
The OpenAI CEO said his venture funds had invested in more than 400 companies, as of last year
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