A purportedly leaked ownership chart from OpenAI has publicly revealed the internal distribution of interests within the AI company for the first time. Recently, a document claimed to be OpenAI's capitalization table circulated widely online. According to a report on April 3, the document emerged almost simultaneously with news of OpenAI's latest funding round—the company just completed a $122 billion financing, reaching a valuation of $852 billion. The report suggested the document "appears to be authentic."
According to the document, OpenAI's top five shareholders are: Microsoft (26.79%), the OpenAI Foundation (25.8%), Softbank Group Corp (11.66%), Amazon.com (4.66%), and NVIDIA (3.47%). Current and former employees collectively hold approximately 20% of the shares.
Microsoft's $13 billion investment is now valued at $228.3 billion, while Softbank Group Corp's $64.6 billion investment is currently worth approximately $99.3 billion. A particularly striking detail is that CEO Sam Altman still holds no equity in the company, according to the ownership chart.
Microsoft sees the most impressive returns, followed by Softbank, while NVIDIA shows a slight paper loss. Microsoft emerges as the biggest winner in terms of investment return. Data indicates Microsoft invested a total of around $13 billion. Based on the current $852 billion valuation, its stake is worth approximately $228.3 billion, representing a paper gain of over 17 times. Microsoft is OpenAI's largest single shareholder.
Softbank Group Corp, led by Masayoshi Son, holds an 11.66% stake in OpenAI, valued at $99.3 billion. Its investment cost was $64.6 billion, making it the single largest investment by a shareholder other than Microsoft, with a return of 1.5 times. Softbank's stake was acquired through a complex series of funding rounds.
NVIDIA's investment shows a slight paper loss. NVIDIA holds a 3.47% stake in OpenAI, worth $29.6 billion, against an investment cost of $30.1 billion. The OpenAI Foundation holds a 25.8% stake, valued at approximately $219.8 billion, with a cost basis of zero. Analysis suggests this stake is the largest non-liquid asset on the cap table, intended to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits humanity.
Sam Altman's lack of equity remains a widely noted detail. It is suggested this situation will almost certainly change if OpenAI proceeds with an initial public offering. OpenAI is reportedly planning an IPO later this year or early next with a targeted valuation of $1 trillion.
The ownership chart also reveals venture firm Sound Ventures holds a 0.15% stake in OpenAI. Its investment of approximately $30 million is now worth around $1.3 billion at the current valuation, a gain of about 43 times. Sound Ventures was co-founded by Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher. It is important to note that the $1.3 billion is not solely attributable to Kutcher, as venture funds have profit-sharing structures with limited and general partners.
A conservative estimate suggests Kutcher's personal stake could be around $400 million based on his exposure. If OpenAI goes public at a $1 trillion valuation, the value of this stake could increase further. Sound Ventures invested during a period when OpenAI's valuation was between $20 billion and $29 billion, early in the 2023 AI boom.
In May 2023, Sound Ventures announced the close of a $240 million fund focused exclusively on AI, which was oversubscribed. Kutcher stated at the time his belief that AI would be the most significant technological shift since the internet. The fund subsequently deployed capital into several AI infrastructure companies. If other investments perform similarly to OpenAI, Kutcher's gains from the fund could potentially increase by hundreds of millions of dollars.