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Sam Altman's Wealth Alchemy: Investing in 400 Companies, Over 10 Closely Linked to OpenAI

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On the back side of the saying "Money Never Sleeps" lies the reality that there are always individuals who can find various ways to funnel "company money" into "their own pockets."

Original Title: See How Sam Altman's Personal Investments Benefit From Ties to OpenAI

Original Authors: Berber Jin, Nate Rattner, WSJ
Translation: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily

Editor's Note: The controversy surrounding OpenAI and Sam Altman has never ceased. Some see him as a leader in AGI, believing that he is the soul core leading the tech elite to challenge and explore the forefront of AI, often referred to as the "Father of AI"; while others see him as a complete villain, with evidence usually being OpenAI's transition from a non-profit to a commercial entity, factionalism on the OpenAI board, and purging dissent.

However, in terms of personal wealth, Altman is not as eye-catching as the world's richest, Musk, but has meticulously constructed his own "wealth loop" in his own way, leveraging the position of OpenAI CEO, akin to a "modern AI wealth alchemy master."

In this issue, we will combine a recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal to uncover the "mystery of Sam Altman's personal alchemy" for readers. The following is the main content, with some sections altered.

Altman's Constructed "Personal Wealth Network": A Private Equity Wealth Group Built Around OpenAI

Sam Altman's significant portion of personal wealth is distributed across a vast network of tech companies, including high-tech enterprises like the fusion energy company Helion, and even a startup dedicated to building new cities along the Mediterranean coast.

It is obvious that many of these companies have established various business partnerships with OpenAI, forming a complex web of investment interests. With OpenAI preparing for an IPO and undergoing close scrutiny and review, last month, the U.S. House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Altman's potential conflict of interest, and several state attorneys general called on the U.S. SEC to intervene.

It is worth noting that he does not directly hold equity in OpenAI (with its latest valuation at $852 billion), which means a rare phenomenon—his personal interests are not directly linked to the company he steers. Against this backdrop, The Wall Street Journal has outlined dozens of his investments and analyzed the impact of some transactions on his personal wealth.

Altman's "Investment Portfolio": Around 400 Investment Projects, with at Least 10 Engaged in Partnership or Potential Contact with OpenAI

Three years ago (around 2023), at a public event, Altman stated that he was involved in investing in and still actively involved in the market with approximately 400 startups. Based on public information and investigative reports, The Wall Street Journal has identified over 80 investment projects, many of which can be traced back to his time leading the venture capital firm Y Combinator.

Most of these investments are concentrated in areas highly relevant to the AI wave, including software, biotech, and energy.

Among his personal investments, at least 10 companies have engaged in commercial partnerships with OpenAI or have recently held discussions on this matter.

Following Altman's personal investment, OpenAI has established research collaborations with at least two biotech companies.

According to the testimony presented in court during Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI last month, one of the companies Altman holds shares in—aging-focused startup Retro Biosciences—was valued at $258 million as of December last year.

Furthermore, Cerebras, a chip manufacturer that previously went public under the banner of "the next NVIDIA," in which Altman invested nearly a decade ago, saw a significant increase in value due to a recent chip procurement agreement with OpenAI. Following the Cerebras IPO, the corresponding shares held by Altman increased by over 6 times compared to December last year.

As is customary, the CEOs of public companies are usually cautioned by the company's board against "holding a large amount of shares in external companies." This is because it can create conflicts of interest, leading them to engage in transactions favorable to their own shareholding companies, or expose them to the risk of "self-dealing" accusations.

However, Bret Taylor, Chairman of the OpenAI Board, stated that Altman has always maintained a high level of transparency regarding his involvement in other company affairs, and OpenAI has also carefully managed potential conflicts of interest.

Altman's 'Energy Play': Helion, a Nuclear Fusion Startup, Rakes in $4.1 Billion

When it comes to Altman's largest investment project, the nuclear fusion startup Helion stands out.

He first started investing in this company while serving as the President of Y Combinator. The company claims to be nearing commercial power generation but has never disclosed its research findings, making its outward claims difficult to independently verify.

On the other hand, the collaboration between Altman's heavily promoted OpenAI and Helion has sparked significant internal controversy within the company.

Here is a timeline of Altman's over decade-long "entanglement" with Helion—

2015: Altman invested in Helion and became its board chairman. The same year, he co-founded OpenAI.

2021: During his tenure leading OpenAI, Altman made additional investments in Helion. That year, he made a bold move by investing $375 million, setting a personal record for the largest-ever single investment in a startup at that time.

2024: OpenAI and Helion signed a non-binding agreement for OpenAI to purchase power from Helion in the future. During OpenAI's trial with Musk, former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis testified that this deal was "unexpected" as fusion was still a "speculative technology."

2025: Japanese investment firm SoftBank, which had invested in OpenAI, was persuaded by Altman to invest in Helion. Several months later, according to The Wall Street Journal, Altman pushed OpenAI to invest around $500 million in Helion, a move that raised eyebrows and concerns among some OpenAI staff. Eventually, at the company level, OpenAI rejected this investment proposal.

2026: In March this year, OpenAI and Helion signed a revised agreement; that same month, Altman resigned as Helion's board chairman, citing future collaboration with OpenAI as the reason. OpenAI publicly stated, "The board has determined that the agreement is in the best interest of the company," without specifying any issues.

In June 2026, Helion announced a new round of funding at a valuation of $15.5 billion, with investment from OpenAI's strategic investor Thrive Capital. According to sources familiar with the matter, Altman's stake in Helion has at least doubled in value, now worth at least $4.1 billion.

Finally, Tools for Humanity, the development company behind the well-known World Coin, previously valued at $2.5 billion and co-founded by OpenAI CEO Altman and others, is back in the spotlight due to an internal investigation scandal.

According to Business Insider, against the backdrop of cryptocurrency price collapse, global regulatory crackdowns, and business contraction and layoffs, the company has initiated two simultaneous investigations led by external law firms, focusing on improper executive fund usage and suspected regulatory violations in Thailand.

Previously, OpenAI faced criticism for its trillion-dollar contracts with major cloud and chip manufacturers, including a $500 billion deal with chip giant Nvidia, a $300 billion agreement with AMD, a $300 billion partnership with cloud provider Oracle, and transactions worth over $22 billion with data center group CoreWeave.

According to Forbes Billionaires List data, Sam Altman is currently ranked 1251st on the global billionaire list, with a net worth of around $3.4 billion.

Furthermore, he has investments in well-known tech companies such as Stripe and Reddit. In April 2024, Altman was ranked 2692nd on this list. In the 2 years since, his personal net worth ranking has risen by over 1400 places. It is worth noting that behind this list is the wealth ranking of over 8 billion people worldwide.