OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Firing and Rehiring – Timeline
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What Happened?
The drama unfolded on Friday – Nov 17, 2023 when the board of directors suddenly fired co-founder and CEO Sam Altman due to concerns about his leadership and handling of AI safety.
After just a few days though Altman was reinstated as CEO.
Altman’s return was announced on X on Nov 21, 2023 and officially on the site on Nov 29, 2023.
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What happened before and after that?
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Here Is the Full Timeline:
Dec 11, 2015
The Founding Fathers
OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of visionaries, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Ilya Sutskever, and Greg Brockman.
As a non-profit AI research company, OpenAI’s main goal is to develop digital intelligence that “benefits humanity as a whole”.
Sep 20, 2017
Internal Tensions Emerge
The Musk-Altman OpenAI emails reveal a complex and fragile leadership structure at OpenAI, with tensions simmering from the start. Which eventually split in to two camps:
Those who wanted to push ahead with rapid AI development and those who were more cautious and prioritized safety concerns that came with developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Feb 20, 2018
Musk Leaves OpenAI Board
Elon Musk steps down from the board of OpenAI, a nonprofit he co-founded. “Elon Musk will depart the OpenAI Board but will continue to donate and advise the organization. As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon” read the announcement by OpenAI.
Mar 11, 2019
OpenAI LP For Profit
OpenAI announced a significant hybrid restructuring by creating a new for-profit branch called OpenAI LP. They said they wanted to balance the organization’s massive expenditures on compute and AI talent.
The new company will operate as a “capped-profit” entity, where investors can receive up to 100X their investment, and any returns beyond that will go to the original OpenAI nonprofit.
Nov 06, 2023
First Dev Day
At OpenAI’s DevDay conference, CEO Sam Altman announced new features including custom GPTs. Another move that didn’t sit well with the board. As they thought it directly competed with their own product.
Nov 16, 2023
Murati first learned of Altman’s Dismissal
Thursday night, Mira Murati was made aware of Sam Altman’s firing. We learned this later from Brockman, who posted the whole thing on X after two days.
Sutskever Set Up a Call With Altman
On the same day, Sam received a text from Ilya Sutskever asking him to join a call scheduled for Friday @noon.
Nov 17, 2023
Sam Altman Was Fired
When Sam joined the Google Meet on Friday, 12:00 pm, he was met with the entire board – except for Greg. Ilya delivered the news: Sam was being fired, and it would be made public soon.
Greg Was Removed From the Board
Friday, 12:23 pm – Greg received a text from Ilya, followed by a Google Meet link. He was informed that he’s being removed from the board, but would remain a vital part of the company and that Sam had been fired.
OpenAI Announces the Departure
OpenAI published a blog post.
The announcement read: “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. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.”
Mira Murati Named Interim CEO
Following the shocking news, OpenAI held an all-hands meeting to address the stunned employees. Interim CEO Mira Murati tried to reassure the team that a search for a new CEO was underway.
Satya Nadella’s Statement
Satya Nadella reaffirmed the company’s commitment (In a Microsoft Statement) to its partnership with OpenAI. “We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI with full access to everything we need to deliver on our innovation agenda.” He said.
Greg Brockman Resigns
But things only got more chaotic. Co-founder and president Greg Brockman announced his resignation on social media. Several senior researchers, including Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Mądry, and Szymon Sidor, also left.
Nov 18, 2023
Brad Lightcap Memorandum
On Saturday Morning, OpenAI’s COO Brad Lightcap issued an internal memorandum to employees to shed some light on the sudden firing. He said quote: “the board’s decision was not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices. This was a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board”.
OpenAI’s $86 Billion Shares
A major sale of OpenAI employee shares, which would have valued the company at around $86 billion, is now uncertain due to the recent turmoil at the company. The sale led by Thrive Capital, was close to being finalized and was expected to be completed as early as next month, The Information reported.
Sam Plans to Launch a New AI Startup
Sam Altman is already making plans for a new artificial intelligence company. Altman and Brockman are wasting no time in exploring their next venture (in the AI Chip industry) but details are scant since they are keeping their options open.
Investors Push for Altman’s Return
Microsoft, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and venture firm Thrive Capital and other OpenAI investors are pushing to reinstate Sam Altman as CEO one day after he was ousted.
Nov 19, 2023
Sam Back at Open AI HQ
On Sunday Afternoon, Sam Altman is back at OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco. Posting a photo of himself wearing a guest badge on social media. The visit came as negotiations are underway to potentially bring him back as CEO.
Microsoft Leads Board Negotiations
Microsoft is taking the lead in negotiations with OpenAI’s board, which are set to conclude by 5pm San Francisco time. The talks are focused on the commercial side of OpenAI, as the company works to find a way forward.
Emmett Shear as CEO
OpenAI has hired Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, to take the reins of the company. Emmett called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”. He also mentioned that the board’s decision to remove Altman wasn’t due to disagreements over safety, but for other reasons.
Microsoft Hires Sam Altman
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X that Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, is joining Microsoft along with Greg Brockman and other colleagues to lead a new advanced AI research team.
Nov 20, 2023
700+ Employees Revolt
A huge majority of OpenAI’s employees – around 505 out of 770 – have signed an open letter demanding that the company’s board members resign. The employees are threatening to leave OpenAI and join a new Microsoft subsidiary that Altman is setting up, where they’ve been assured of jobs.
The letter, which was signed by many of OpenAI’s senior executives, including former interim CEO Mira Murati and COO Brad Lightcap, is scathing in its criticism of the board. It says that the board’s actions have shown they’re “incapable of overseeing OpenAI” and that the employees can’t work with people who “lack competence, judgement, and care for our mission and employees”.
One of the board members, Ilya Sutskever, has already had a change of heart and signed the letter, saying he “deeply regrets” his role in ousting Altman.
Altman and Brockman Thinking About Returning to OpenAI
Despite announcing his move to Microsoft, Sam Altman’s departure from OpenAI is not a done deal. According to The Verge, He and co-founder Greg Brockman are still open to returning to the company if the board members who fired him step down.
The situation is precarious, with many employees, including chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, threatening to leave if the board doesn’t resign. In fact, Sutskever has already flipped and is now calling for the board to step down, along with nearly the entire company.
OpenAI X Anthropic Failed Merger?
OpenAI’s board of directors approached Dario Amodei, the CEO of rival company Anthropic, with a job offer to replace Sam Altman as CEO. The proposal included a potential merger between the two companies. Amodei promptly declined.
Nov 21, 2023
“Agreement in Principle”
OpenAI has reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO, with a new board of directors in place. The new board members include Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce; Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and president of Harvard University; and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo. D’Angelo was previously on OpenAI’s board, while the three directors no longer on the board are Ilya Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner.
“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO …” read the X postX post by the company.
Nov 29, 2023
Sam Altman Officially Returns As CEO
Sam Altman returns to OpenAI as CEO 12 days after his departure from the position. with Mira Murati set to resume her role as CTO. The new initial board will consist of Bret Taylor as chair, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
OpenAI in a blog post mentioned that the new board is considered “initial,” suggesting that more directors will be added in the future.
Microsoft Non-voting Observer
The board will include a non-voting observer from Microsoft, which we now know were Dee Templeton, VP for tech and research partnerships and operations, and an advisor to Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott. However, Microsoft has given up its observer seat on OpenAI’s board as of July, 2024.
March 04, 2025
OpenAI Current Board
OpenAI is currently structured into two parts. A Nonprofit board that controls and governs the mission to create safe, beneficial AGI. And a for-profit subsidiary that raises funds and builds the technology—but with profit limits so that any extra returns benefit humanity.
OpenAI is governed by the board of the OpenAI Nonprofit, which is currently made up of independent directors. The board members include Bret Taylor (Chair), Adam D’Angelo, Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Zico Kolter, Retired U.S. Army General Paul M. Nakasone, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, and CEO Sam Altman.
What a turbulent turn of events.
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We’ll keep an eye on any further updates and let you know if anything changes. Reach out for any questions.