Life timeline of Sam Altman
Technology entrepreneur and investor, known for leading OpenAI and co-founding Loopt.
Education
Around 1993
Received his first Macintosh and began programming
Also in Work
At age eight, Altman received an Apple Macintosh, learned to program, and took computer hardware apart to understand it. The date is approximate because the source gives his age rather than a calendar date. Source: biographical reporting and The New Yorker profile.
Around 2003 – 2005
Studied computer science at Stanford University
Also in Location
Altman studied computer science at Stanford University for about two years before leaving in 2005 without a bachelor's degree. The start year is approximate, inferred only to place the reported two-year period around the documented 2005 departure. Source: biographical reporting.
Career
Left Stanford to build Loopt
Also in Education · Work
In 2005, Altman left Stanford and co-founded Loopt, a mobile location-sharing social service. This was his first major founder transition from education into a startup. Sources: biographical reporting and later profiles.
Loopt joined Y Combinator's inaugural Summer 2005 batch
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Loopt was part of Y Combinator's first Summer 2005 cohort, beginning Altman's long association with YC. YC's own historical material identifies Loopt with the initial batch. Source: Y Combinator and biographical reporting.
2005 – Mar 2012
Co-founded and led Loopt as CEO
Also in Work
Altman co-founded Loopt with Nick Sivo and others and served as CEO. The company built a real-time mobile location-sharing service, raised more than $30 million, reached major carrier distribution, and struggled to turn early promise into sustained consumer adoption. Source: The New Yorker and biographical reporting.
2011 – Feb 2014
Became a partner at Y Combinator
Altman joined Y Combinator as a partner in 2011, initially on a part-time basis, several years after participating in YC's first batch with Loopt. Source: biographical reporting.
Green Dot agreed to acquire Loopt for $43.4 million
Also in Finance · Work
Green Dot announced an agreement to acquire Loopt for $43.4 million in cash. Later reporting described the sale as a negative return for Loopt's venture investors and said Altman personally made about $5 million. Sources: acquisition reporting and The New Yorker.
Co-founded Hydrazine Capital
Also in Finance · Work
After Loopt's sale, Altman launched Hydrazine Capital. The first fund raised about $21 million, including much of the roughly $5 million he made from Loopt and a significant investment from Peter Thiel; The New Yorker reported that roughly three quarters of the fund went into YC companies. Sources: The New Yorker and biographical reporting.
Became president of Y Combinator
Paul Graham selected Altman to succeed him as Y Combinator's president in February 2014. Altman pushed YC to increase the number of startups it funded and to back more hard-technology companies. Sources: biographical reporting and reporting on his later departure.
Organised Stanford's 'How to Start a Startup' course
Also in Education · Work
Altman organised a free Stanford course on starting companies, bringing in prominent startup founders and investors as guest lecturers and publishing the material online. Source: contemporary reporting.
2015 – Apr 2025
Chaired nuclear-energy startup Oklo
Also in Finance · Work
After meeting Oklo co-founder Jacob DeWitte in 2013, Altman became an early investor and served as chair from 2015. His involvement reflected a long-running focus on advanced energy as a constraint on technological growth. Sources: SEC-linked company material and later Reuters reporting.
Co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit and became a founding co-chair
Also in Work
OpenAI was announced on December 11, 2015 as a nonprofit AI research organisation intended to advance digital intelligence in a way that would benefit humanity broadly. Altman and Elon Musk were named co-chairs, with a group of researchers and funders backing the effort. Source: OpenAI's launch announcement.
2019 – present
Co-founded Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin
Also in Finance · Work
Altman co-founded Tools for Humanity with Alex Blania in 2019. The project developed the Orb and World ID to verify that users are unique humans online; early versions of the idea were also tied to distributing a universal basic income through Worldcoin. Sources: The New Yorker and recent company reporting.
Stepped down as Y Combinator president to focus on OpenAI
Altman stepped down as YC president in March 2019 as he shifted his attention toward OpenAI. Contemporary reporting said he would move into a less hands-on YC role while focusing on OpenAI. Later public accounts have disputed whether his departure should be characterised as voluntary or forced, so this item records only the documented leadership transition. Sources: Axios and later reporting on the dispute.
Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI and formed a strategic partnership
Also in Finance · Work
Under Altman's leadership, Microsoft announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI and a strategic computing partnership, giving OpenAI access to large-scale Azure infrastructure. Source: OpenAI and Microsoft partnership reporting.
ChatGPT launched as a public research preview
Also in Work
OpenAI launched ChatGPT as a free research preview on November 30, 2022. Its rapid adoption turned OpenAI and Altman into central figures in the generative-AI boom. Sources: OpenAI launch chronology and biographical reporting.
OpenAI released GPT-4
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OpenAI released GPT-4, a major model generation that expanded the company's technical and commercial reach and intensified public attention on frontier-AI capabilities and risks. Source: OpenAI release material.
Testified before the U.S. Senate and called for AI regulation
Also in Public Service
Altman testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee, warning that increasingly capable AI could cause significant harm and advocating licensing, safety standards and independent testing for the most powerful systems. Sources: congressional-hearing reporting and TIME.
OpenAI board removed him as CEO
OpenAI's board removed Altman as CEO, saying he had not been consistently candid in his communications with the board and that it had lost confidence in his leadership. The abrupt decision triggered a major employee and investor revolt. Source: OpenAI announcement as reported by TIME and other outlets.
Reinstated as OpenAI CEO after employee and investor revolt
Five days after his removal, OpenAI reached an agreement for Altman to return as CEO with a reconstituted board. The reversal followed intense pressure from employees and investors. Sources: OpenAI-related reporting and later biographical summaries.
Named TIME's CEO of the Year for 2023
TIME selected Altman as its CEO of the Year for 2023, reflecting ChatGPT's impact and the extraordinary public attention surrounding OpenAI and his November removal and return. Source: TIME.
Elon Musk sued OpenAI and Altman over OpenAI's mission and structure
Also in Legal
Elon Musk filed litigation against OpenAI and Altman alleging that the organisation had departed from the nonprofit mission under which he helped fund it. OpenAI and Altman rejected the claims; the dispute later proceeded to a 2026 jury trial after refiling and amendment. Sources: OpenAI litigation history and later Reuters trial coverage.
Joined the public launch of the Stargate AI-infrastructure initiative
Also in Finance · Work
Altman appeared with U.S. President Donald Trump, SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and Oracle's Larry Ellison for the announcement of Stargate, an AI-infrastructure partnership planning an initial $100 billion investment with a stated path to as much as $500 billion over four years. Sources: Associated Press and contemporaneous reporting.
Stepped down as Oklo chair to avoid a potential conflict
Also in Finance · Work
Altman stepped down as chair of nuclear-energy company Oklo. Reporting said the move was intended to remove a potential conflict as Oklo and AI companies, including OpenAI, explored possible energy-supply relationships. Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte succeeded him as chair. Sources: Reuters and Financial Times.
OpenAI completed recapitalisation into a public benefit corporation under nonprofit control
Also in Finance · Work
OpenAI completed a recapitalisation in which the nonprofit became the OpenAI Foundation and the operating business became a public benefit corporation. The Foundation retained governance control; its published board roster includes CEO Sam Altman. At closing, OpenAI said the Foundation held 26% of OpenAI Group and Microsoft about 27%. Source: OpenAI's official structure page.
A jury rejected Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI and Altman
Also in Legal
A U.S. jury ruled for OpenAI in Musk's lawsuit, finding the claims were brought too late and rejecting liability for the alleged abandonment of OpenAI's original mission. Musk had sought major damages and Altman's removal. Sources: Reuters.
Public Service
Created YC Research and committed substantial personal funding
Also in Finance · Work
Altman expanded Y Combinator into longer-horizon research through YC Research. Contemporary discussion and later profiles reported a $10 million personal commitment and research interests including basic income, science and other large social questions. Sources: The New Yorker and contemporaneous YC community discussion.
2019 – 2023
Launched a large OpenResearch unconditional-cash study
Also in Finance · Work
OpenResearch, which Altman funded and chaired, launched a large randomised study of unconditional cash. The core treatment gave about 1,000 low-income participants in Texas and Illinois $1,000 per month for three years; reporting put total project cost around $60 million, with about $14 million from Altman. Sources: Wired, Vox and Business Insider reporting on the study.
OpenResearch released results from the three-year cash-transfer study
Also in Finance · Work
OpenResearch published findings from the unconditional-cash experiment Altman helped fund. Reporting described a nuanced result: recipients gained flexibility and some short-term wellbeing benefits, while long-term health gains were limited and paid work decreased modestly. Sources: Vox, Wired and Business Insider.
Other life moments
Mar 2019 – 17 Nov 2023
OpenAI leadership before the board crisis
Altman became OpenAI's full-time CEO in 2019 as the organisation created a capped-profit structure intended to raise the capital needed for large-scale AI research. This first CEO period ended when the board removed him on November 17, 2023. Sources: OpenAI structural history and biographical reporting.
22 Nov 2023 – present
Return to OpenAI leadership
Altman resumed the CEO role on November 22, 2023. Current 2026 reporting continues to identify him as OpenAI's CEO, so this period is marked ongoing. Sources: reinstatement reporting and current Reuters coverage.
Finance
Made a major personal investment in Helion Energy
Also in Work
Altman invested more than $375 million in fusion company Helion Energy. He has described advanced energy as strategically important to a future with abundant computing and other technology. Source: MIT Technology Review reporting.
Worldcoin launched publicly
Also in Work
The Worldcoin project associated with Tools for Humanity launched publicly in July 2023. It paired World ID proof-of-personhood with the WLD token and later faced privacy and regulatory scrutiny in several countries. Source: Reuters.
Philanthropy
Signed the Giving Pledge with Oliver Mulherin
Also in Finance
Altman and his husband Oliver Mulherin joined the Giving Pledge, committing to give away more than half of their wealth. They said their philanthropy would focus on technology that can create abundance for people. Source: Associated Press.