Early Life and Education
Sam Altman was born on April 22, 1985, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he received his first computer, an Apple Macintosh, at the age of eight. Altman attended John Burroughs School, a private school in Ladue, Missouri. In 2005, he enrolled at Stanford University to study computer science but dropped out after one year without earning a bachelor’s degree.
Career
Loopt
In 2005, at the age of 19, Altman co-founded Loopt, a location-based social networking mobile application. As CEO, Altman raised more than $30 million in venture capital for the company. However, Loopt failed to gain traction with enough users, and in March 2012, it was acquired by the Green Dot Corporation for $43.4 million.
Y Combinator
Altman became a partner at Y Combinator in 2011, initially working there on a part-time basis. In February 2014, Altman was named president of Y Combinator by its co-founder, Paul Graham. In a 2014 blog post, Altman said that the total valuation of Y Combinator companies had surpassed $65 billion, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Zenefits, and Stripe. In September 2016, Altman announced his expanded role as president of YC Group, which included Y Combinator and other units. Altman said that he hoped to expand Y Combinator to fund 1,000 new companies per year. He also tried to expand the types of companies funded by YC, especially “hard technology” companies. In October 2015, Altman announced YC Continuity, a $700 million equity fund investing in YC companies as they matured. A week earlier, Altman had introduced Y Combinator Research, a non-profit research lab, and donated $10 million to fund it. YC Research has thus far announced research on basic income, the future of computing, education, and building new cities. In March 2019, YC announced Altman’s transition from the president of the company to a less hands-on role as Chairman of the Board, for him to focus on OpenAI. This decision came shortly after YC announced it would be moving its headquarters to San Francisco. As of early 2020, he was no longer affiliated with YC.
OpenAI
Altman joined OpenAI in 2015 as a co-chairman and became the CEO in 2020. OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company’s mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits humanity. In 2023, Altman was sacked from his position as CEO of OpenAI due to a disagreement with the board over the direction of the company.
Age
As of November 2023, Sam Altman is 38 years old.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sam Altman’s net worth is $500 million. However, according to StartupTalky, his estimated net worth as of 2021 was $250 million. It is important to note that net worth estimates can vary depending on the source and the methodology used to calculate them.
FAQs
Q: What is Sam Altman known for?
A: Sam Altman is known for his work as an entrepreneur, programmer, investor, and blogger. He is best known as the CEO of the artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI, and the former president of the technology startup accelerator Y Combinator.
Q: How old is Sam Altman?
A: As of November 2023, Sam Altman is 38 years old.
Q: What is Sam Altman’s net worth?
A: According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sam Altman’s net worth is $500 million. However, according to StartupTalky, his estimated net worth as of 2021 was $250 million.
Q: What is OpenAI?
A: OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc.