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Tenure: March 2019 - November 17, 2023
Sam Altman was the first CEO of OpenAI, starting in 2019.
He transformed it from a non-profit to a "capped-profit" entity when it secured major investments, including $1 billion from Microsoft.
Under his leadership, OpenAI launched groundbreaking products like ChatGPT and GPT-4 — growing the company to an $80 billion valuation in a short period of time.
It became the leading force in artificial intelligence, specifically in LLMs.
On November 17, 2023, Altman was abruptly fired by OpenAI's board of directors.
The board cited concerns about his deceptive communication style, where he was fired via Google Meet while he was watching the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Immediate chaos ensued.
Employees were outraged.
Hundreds of them threatened to resign, with key executives departing, and Microsoft offering to hire Altman and other OpenAI staff.
Tenure: (November 17-20, 2023)
After Sam Altman's sudden removal, Mira Murati was appointed as interim CEO of OpenAI.
She served for a few days as a stabilizing force during a highly turbulent week.
Her brief three-day tenure ended after being replaced.
She returned to her role as CTO until her eventual departure from OpenAI in September 2024.
Tenure: (November 20-22, 2023)
Entrepreneur and Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear was appointed as interim CEO, only to serve one of the shortest executive tenures in corporate history — just 55 hours and 32 minutes!
His role ended when the crisis was resolved with Sam Altman's reinstatement as CEO and with a new board that included Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.
Tenure: (November 22, 2023 - Present)
After five days of intense corporate drama, Altman was reinstated as CEO on November 22, 2023.
This sent shockwaves in the business world and became one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds/comebacks in tech history.
He now has full rein in the AI giant, leading the cutting edge in artificial intelligence technology.
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