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Person

Sam Altman

American entrepreneur; co-chair of OpenAI at its December 2015 launch and its CEO since 2019, apart from November 17-29, 2023.

18 links, 15 backed by primary records

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Dates
22 Apr 1985 –
Also known as
Samuel Altman
Background
Family ties
Over time
  1. Life 22 Apr 1985 –
  2. educated at Stanford University (computer science student) c. 2003–2005
  3. CEO of Loopt 2005 – Mar 2012
  4. worked at Y Combinator (part-time partner) 2011–2014
  5. board member of Green Dot 4 Mar 2013 – 11 Apr 2016
  6. head of Y Combinator (president) 2014–2019
  7. board member of OpenAI Dec 2015 – 17 Nov 2023
  8. CEO of OpenAI Mar 2019 – 17 Nov 2023
  9. board member of Expedia Group 10 Sep 2019 – 1 Jun 2023

3 more in the Timeline ›

Connections 18

founded

  • Loopt 2005 co-founder Primary record 7
  • OpenAI Dec 2015 co-chair Primary record 589

CEO of

  • Loopt 2005 – Mar 2012 Primary record 710
  • OpenAI Mar 2019 – 17 Nov 2023 Primary record 911
  • OpenAI 29 Nov 2023 – Primary record 12

head of

  • Y Combinator 2014–2019 president Primary record 313

    Paul Graham announced the choice on 21 February 2014; he wrote that he and Jessica Livingston thought Altman best suited to grow YC, and that he had started trying to recruit him in 2012.

worked at

  • Y Combinator 2011–2014 part-time partner Primary record 1415
  • Green Dot Mar 2012 – Oct 2013 Senior Vice President, Interactive (2012); later Executive Vice President, Mobile Products and Technology Primary record 7

    Joined with the Loopt sale as Senior Vice President, Interactive (also chief technology officer, July to November 2012), then Executive Vice President, Mobile Products and Technology; left the staff in October 2013.

relative of

citizen of

educated at

  • Stanford University c. 2003–2005 computer science student Primary record 234

    He studied computer science for two years and left to work full time on Loopt.

board member of

funded

  • OpenAI Dec 2015 donor Primary record 8

born in

  • Chicago Scholarship & press 3

    Born on 22 April 1985.

Timeline 15 dates
  1. 22 Apr 1985 – Sam Altman
  2. c. 2003–2005 Sam Altman educated at Stanford University
  3. 2005 Sam Altman founded Loopt
  4. 2005 – Mar 2012 Sam Altman CEO of Loopt
  5. 2011–2014 Sam Altman worked at Y Combinator
  6. Mar 2012 – Oct 2013 Sam Altman worked at Green Dot
  7. 4 Mar 2013 – 11 Apr 2016 Sam Altman board member of Green Dot
  8. 2014–2019 Sam Altman head of Y Combinator
  9. Dec 2015 Sam Altman founded OpenAI
  10. Dec 2015 – 17 Nov 2023 Sam Altman board member of OpenAI
  11. Dec 2015 Sam Altman funded OpenAI
  12. Mar 2019 – 17 Nov 2023 Sam Altman CEO of OpenAI
  13. 10 Sep 2019 – 1 Jun 2023 Sam Altman board member of Expedia Group
  14. 29 Nov 2023 – Sam Altman CEO of OpenAI
  15. 8 Mar 2024 – Sam Altman board member of OpenAI
Proof 22 sources
  1. Schedule 13D: Oklo Inc. (reporting person Samuel H. Altman), Sam Altman, 23 Dec 2024. Primary record
    Samuel H. Altman, a citizen of the United States of America.
  2. Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny, The New Yorker, 3 Oct 2016. Scholarship & press
    He attended Stanford University, where he spent two years studying computer science, until he and two classmates dropped out to work full time on Loopt, a mobile app that told your friends where you were.
    One evening at Altman’s house, his younger brothers, Max and Jack, were teasing him that he should run for President in 2020, when he’d be thirty-five: just old enough.
  3. Sam Altman, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 24 Dec 2024. Scholarship & press Archived copy
    In 2005, after leaving Stanford, he founded Loopt, an app that allowed users to share their location with friends.
    Sam Altman (born April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.)
    Sam Altman (born April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) is an American entrepreneur who was president of the start-up accelerator Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019 and chief executive officer (CEO) of the artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI beginning in 2019.
  4. Loopt: board of directors, Loopt, 2008. Primary record Archived copy
    Sam studied computer science at Stanford University, focusing on security and machine learning.
  5. Testimony of Sam Altman, Co-Founder and CEO, OpenAI: Winning the AI Race (Senate Commerce Committee), U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 8 May 2025. Primary record
    To close on a personal note, I grew up in St. Louis, part of a close-knit and competitive family that played 20 Questions to guess what we were having for dessert.
    Testimony of Sam Altman, Co-Founder and CEO, OpenAI
  6. OpenAI boss Sam Altman says Muslims in tech world fear retaliation in speaking up, Malay Mail, 5 Jan 2024. Scholarship & press
    I am jewish.
  7. Green Dot Corporation 2014 proxy statement (Schedule 14A), Green Dot, 10 Apr 2014. Primary record
    Prior to joining Green Dot, he co-founded Loopt, Inc., a provider of mobile location-based services, in 2005 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until it was acquired by us in March 2012.
    He served as our Senior Vice President, Interactive, from March 2012 to November 2012 and also as our Chief Technology Officer from July 2012 to November 2012.
    Mr. Altman did not receive any compensation for services provided as a director in 2013 until he ceased serving as an employee in October 2013.
    Previously, he has served as Executive Vice President, Mobile Products and Technology for Green Dot.
  8. Introducing OpenAI, OpenAI, 11 Dec 2015. Primary record
    OpenAI's co-chairs are Sam Altman and Elon Musk.
    Sam, Greg, Elon, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, Peter Thiel, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Infosys, and YC Research are donating to support OpenAI. In total, these funders have committed $1 billion, although we expect to only spend a tiny fraction of this in the next few years.
  9. OpenAI announces leadership transition, OpenAI, 17 Nov 2023. Primary record
    We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI.
    The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors.
  10. Green Dot to Acquire Loopt (press release, Exhibit 99.01 to Form 8-K), Green Dot, 9 Mar 2012. Primary record
    Loopt co-founder and CEO Sam Altman stated, “It's been exhilarating to see mobile become such a critical part of our collective daily lives.
  11. OpenAI LP, OpenAI, 11 Mar 2019. Primary record
    OpenAI Nonprofit’s board consists of OpenAI LP employees Greg Brockman (Chairman & CTO), Ilya Sutskever (Chief Scientist), and Sam Altman (CEO), and non-employees Adam D’Angelo, Holden Karnofsky, Reid Hoffman
  12. Sam Altman returns as CEO, OpenAI has a new initial board, OpenAI, 29 Nov 2023. Primary record
    I am returning to OpenAI as CEO. Mira will return to her role as CTO. The new initial board will consist of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
  13. Sam Altman for President, Y Combinator, 21 Feb 2014. Primary record
    I’m delighted to announce that Sam Altman has agreed to become president of Y Combinator starting next batch.
  14. Sam Altman Taking Over As President Of Y Combinator, Replacing Paul Graham At The Helm, TechCrunch, 21 Feb 2014. Scholarship & press
    Taking over as Y Combinator’s president is Sam Altman, the entrepreneur who was part of the first YC startup class in 2005 and has worked as a part-time YC partner since 2011.
  15. Welcome Sam, Garry, Emmett, and Justin, Y Combinator, 13 Jun 2011. Primary record
    We’ve recruited four YC alumni to be part time partners: Loopt founder Sam Altman, Posterous founder Garry Tan, and Justin.tv founders Emmett Shear and Justin Kan.
  16. Jack Altman raised a new $275M early-stage fund in a mere week, TechCrunch, 16 Sep 2025. Scholarship & press
    On Tuesday, this especially applied to Jack Altman, co-founder of $3 billion-valuation HR software startup Lattice and brother to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
    Meanwhile, brother Max Altman is a co-founder of Saga Ventures, which raised a $125 million fund of its own in 2024.
  17. Green Dot Corporation Form 8-K: appointment of Samuel Altman to the board, Green Dot, 6 Mar 2013. Primary record
    On February 28, 2013, Green Dot Corporation (“Green Dot”) appointed Samuel Altman as a Class I member of its Board of Directors (“Board”), effective March 4, 2013.
  18. Green Dot Corporation Form 8-K: board changes, Green Dot, 11 Apr 2016. Primary record
    Samuel Altman, a non-independent Class I director, voluntarily agreed to step down from the Board, effective immediately prior to the new director appointments
  19. OpenAI Supporters, OpenAI, 20 Feb 2018. Primary record
    The Board is now Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Holden Karnofsky, and Sam Altman.
  20. Expedia Group, Inc. Form 8-K, September 10, 2019, Expedia Group, 10 Sep 2019. Primary record
    elected Samuel Altman to fill the newly-created directorship. Mr. Altman is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of OpenAI an organization dedicated to ensuring artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.
  21. Expedia Group, Inc. Form 8-K, May 31, 2023, Expedia Group, 2 Jun 2023. Primary record
    Effective as of June 1, 2023, Samuel Altman resigned from the Expedia Group, Inc. (the “Company”) Board of Directors (the “Board”).
  22. Review completed & Altman, Brockman to continue to lead OpenAI, OpenAI, 8 Mar 2024. Primary record
    Sam Altman, as CEO, will rejoin the OpenAI Board of Directors.
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