Forbes' figure has moved a lot as his private stakes were revalued. Reuters, citing Forbes, put him at $4 billion on May 13, 2026, the week his holdings were shown in court. All of these are estimates; most of what he owns is in private companies with no daily share price.
Sam Altman net worth at a glance
| Measure | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Net worth estimate | About $3.2 billion ($3.19 billion), No. 1,310 in the world that day | Forbes real-time, October 25, 2026 |
| Earlier estimate | $4 billion | Reuters citing Forbes, May 13, 2026 |
| First Forbes billionaire estimate | $1 billion | Forbes, 2024 |
| OpenAI equity | None held directly | Forbes; Reuters, May 13, 2026 |
| Helion Energy stake | $1.7 billion, about one-third of the company | Court exhibit, value at December 31, 2025; Altman's testimony via GeekWire |
| Stripe stake | $633 million | Court exhibit, December 31, 2025 |
| Retro Biosciences stake | $258 million | Court exhibit, December 31, 2025 |
Does Sam Altman own part of OpenAI?
Not directly. Forbes says he "has no equity in OpenAI," and Reuters reported during the May 2026 trial that he holds no direct OpenAI equity. In December 2024, OpenAI told TechCrunch he had once held a negligible indirect interest through a Sequoia fund, which he no longer has.
That is unusual for a CEO. OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation on March 31, 2026, Bloomberg Law reported. Even a 1% stake would be worth about $8.5 billion, more than twice his estimated fortune.
Where Sam Altman's money comes from
In May 2026, Musk's lawyers showed the jury a list of Altman's stakes in nine companies that had done business with OpenAI, with values as of December 31, 2025. Reuters reported the figures:
| Company | What it does | Altman's stake |
|---|---|---|
| Helion Energy | Nuclear fusion power | $1.7 billion |
| Stripe | Online payments | $633 million |
| Retro Biosciences | Longevity drugs | $258 million |
| Cerebras | AI chips | About $3.2 million |
| Lattice (Degree), Humane, Software Applications, Formation Bio | Software and health | Not given |
The stakes in those nine companies total more than $2 billion. Altman testified that he owns roughly one-third of Helion and left its board in March 2026, GeekWire reported. Reuters reported that he had sold his Reddit stake, worth more than $600 million when Reddit went public in 2024, by the end of 2025. A jury ruled against Musk on May 18, 2026, finding his claims were filed too late, Al Jazeera reported.
Sam Altman timeline
- 2005
Drops out of Stanford to found Loopt, a location-sharing app
- 2012
Loopt is sold; Altman uses the proceeds to start his own venture fund
- 2014
Becomes president of the startup accelerator Y Combinator
- 2019
Leaves Y Combinator to become CEO of OpenAI
- 2023
OpenAI's board fires him in November; he is reinstated days later
- 2024
Forbes counts him as a billionaire, with no OpenAI equity
- 2025
His stakes in nine OpenAI business partners are worth more than $2 billion at year end
- 2026
OpenAI is valued at $852 billion in March; Altman's holdings are shown at the Musk trial in May; Musk loses on May 18
Is Sam Altman a billionaire?
Yes, by Forbes' count. He was No. 2,692 on Forbes' 2024 billionaires list, No. 2,233 in 2025 and No. 1,251 in 2026, according to his Forbes profile, which also lists his source of wealth as investments, not OpenAI.
How I checked these numbers
I used Forbes for every net worth figure, with its date, and Reuters' reporting of the May 2026 court exhibit for the individual stakes. Those stake values are as of December 31, 2025, and private company values can change a lot from there.
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Observations retain their source, period and definition. Uncertainty is preserved; missing values are not zero.
- Forbes profile: Sam Altman ↗
forbes.com · 2026-10-25T00:00:00.000Z
- OpenAI chief Altman has over $2 billion stake in companies that dealt with OpenAI: court filing (Reuters via Yahoo Finance) ↗
Reuters via Yahoo Finance · 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's stake in Helion Energy draws scrutiny in Musk trial and on Capitol Hill (GeekWire) ↗
GeekWire
- Elon Musk loses US lawsuit against OpenAI (Al Jazeera) ↗
Al Jazeera · 2026-05-18T00:00:00.000Z
- OpenAI Valued at $852 Billion After Mega $122 Billion Round (Bloomberg Law) ↗
Bloomberg Law · 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Sam Altman once owned some equity in OpenAI through Sequoia (TechCrunch) ↗
TechCrunch · 2024-12-19T00:00:00.000Z
- The American billionaires too poor to make the 2024 Forbes 400 list (Forbes Australia) ↗
Forbes Australia