Sutskever Reveals $7bn OpenAI Stake in Musk Legal Battle
▼ Summary
– Ilya Sutskever disclosed under oath that his OpenAI stake is worth approximately $7 billion, making him one of the largest individual shareholders alongside Sam Altman.
– The disclosure occurred during Elon Musk’s lawsuit challenging OpenAI’s transition from non-profit to a capped-profit structure.
– Sutskever’s stake, roughly 0.8% of OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation, provides a data point for Musk’s argument that the restructuring benefited a small group of insiders.
– Sutskever left OpenAI in May 2024 after a boardroom dispute that briefly removed Altman as CEO, and now runs Safe Superintelligence Inc.
– Safe Superintelligence, focused on safe AI research, reached a $32 billion valuation after raising over $3 billion with no public product.
Ilya Sutskever, the former chief scientist at OpenAI who now leads Safe Superintelligence Inc., testified under oath on Monday that his personal ownership stake in the AI company is worth roughly $7 billion, according to reports from Reuters and other outlets. The disclosure came during the ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI.
The figure positions Sutskever among the company’s largest individual shareholders, alongside CEO Sam Altman and a handful of early backers. Sutskever, a co-founder and one of OpenAI’s most influential researchers, left the organization in May 2024 following the boardroom turmoil that briefly ousted Altman as chief executive.
Sutskever’s testimony was part of Elon Musk’s lawsuit challenging OpenAI’s shift from a non-profit research lab to a capped-profit and commercial enterprise. The case asks the court to revisit the corporate governance changes that enabled that transition. Sutskever was called as a witness because of his co-founder role and board presence during the contested period.
The $7 billion stake was disclosed while Sutskever answered questions about his current financial ties to OpenAI. The company recently completed a primary funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation. Prior to this testimony, the details of Sutskever’s holdings had not been publicly revealed. Public information about OpenAI’s cap table has been scarce, with secondary market activity suggesting a wide gap between the primary round valuation and recent private transactions.
Sutskever’s own venture, Safe Superintelligence, achieved a $32 billion valuation in its latest funding round, having raised over $3 billion without unveiling any product to the public. The company operates on a research-only model focused on building safe superintelligence.
The disclosure carries significant procedural weight in the Musk case. It clarifies the scale of financial benefits retained by OpenAI’s original founders after the restructuring. Musk’s legal team can use this as evidence that the transition enriched a small group of insiders. It also complicates Sutskever’s role as a witness, given that his testimony directly affects the value of an asset he owns.
Court documents have not yet specified the exact legal form of Sutskever’s stake, such as whether it consists of common stock, preferred shares, or profit-participation units, nor have they revealed any vesting schedule. OpenAI declined to comment on the testimony, citing the active litigation. Sutskever has not publicly addressed the disclosure.
The case is being heard in the Northern District of California, with a trial scheduled for autumn. Several procedural motions are still outstanding, and the court has suggested it may consolidate Musk’s claims with related shareholder and stakeholder actions filed in late 2025.
In absolute terms, the $7 billion figure is striking even at OpenAI’s current valuation. It implies an ownership stake of roughly 0.8 percent, placing Sutskever firmly in the top tier of individual shareholders. Still, his stake remains below Altman’s holdings and far smaller than the institutional positions held by Microsoft, SoftBank, Amazon, and Nvidia.
(Source: The Next Web)
