The dark side of money never sleeps is that there are always people who can use various methods to put "the company's money" into "their own pockets."

Written by: Berber Jin, Nate Rattner

Translated by: Wenser

Editor's note: The controversy surrounding OpenAI and Sam Altman has never ceased. Some view him as a leading figure in AGI, believing he is the core soul leading tech elites to challenge and explore the frontier of AI, deserving the title "Father of AI"; others consider him a petty person, the evidence usually being OpenAI's transformation from a nonprofit to a commercial company, forming factions within the OpenAI board, and eliminating dissent. However, in terms of personal wealth, Altman is not as eye-catching as the world's richest man, Musk, but he has carefully constructed a set of his own "wealth closed loop" through his role as CEO of OpenAI, earning him the title "modern AI wealth alchemist."

In this issue, Odaily Planet Daily combines a recent investigation from the Wall Street Journal to unveil "The Personal Alchemy Mystery of Sam Altman." The following is the main text, with some content edited, Enjoy~

Altman's "Personal Wealth Network": A Private Equity Wealth Group Built Around OpenAI

Most of Sam Altman's personal wealth is distributed across a vast network of technology companies, including high-tech enterprises like nuclear fusion company Helion and even a startup focused on building new cities along the Mediterranean coast.

It is evident that many of these companies have established various commercial relationships with OpenAI, forming a complex web of investment interests. As OpenAI prepares for its IPO and faces close scrutiny and review from all sides, last month, the U.S. House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into potential conflicts of interest involving Altman, and several state attorneys general have called for the U.S. SEC to intervene and review.

It is worth noting that he does not directly hold equity in OpenAI (which has a latest valuation of $852 billion), meaning a rare phenomenon—his personal interests are not directly tied to the company he leads. Against this backdrop, the Wall Street Journal compiled dozens of his investments and analyzed the impact of some transactions on his personal wealth.

Altman's "Investment List": Approximately 400 Investment Projects, at Least 10 with Collaboration or Potential Contact with OpenAI

Three years ago (around 2023), in an external event, Altman stated that there are approximately 400 startups he is involved in investing in and remains active in the market. Based on public information and investigative reports, the Wall Street Journal selected over 80 of these investment projects, many tracing back to his time leading the venture capital firm Y Combinator.

These investments are mostly concentrated in areas highly related to the AI wave, including software, biotechnology, and energy.

Among the companies he personally invested in, at least 10 have established commercial collaborations with OpenAI or have recently engaged in discussions about it.

After Altman personally invested, OpenAI established research collaborations with at least two biotech companies.

According to evidence presented in last month's court hearing of Musk vs. OpenAI, one of the companies Altman holds—anti-aging startup Retro Biosciences—had shares valued at $258 million as of last December.

Moreover, the chip manufacturer Cerebras, which previously completed an IPO under the banner of "the next Nvidia," was invested in by Altman nearly a decade ago. A key factor driving its IPO was the recent chip procurement agreement OpenAI reached with it. After Cerebras' IPO, the value of the shares Altman holds grew over sixfold compared to their value last December.

By convention, CEOs of public companies are usually cautioned by the board—"not to hold large shares in external companies." The reason is that it can create conflicting interests, prompting them to make deals that favor the company they hold shares in, or subjecting them to the risk of accusations of "self-dealing transactions."

However, OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor said that Altman has always maintained high transparency in disclosing his involvement in other business matters, and that OpenAI has prudently managed potential conflicts of interest.

Altman's "Energy Layout" Masterpiece: Made $4.1 Billion from Nuclear Fusion Startup Helion

Speaking of Altman's largest investment project, the nuclear fusion startup Helion is certainly on the list.

He began investing in the company during his presidency at Y Combinator. The company claims to be close to achieving commercial power generation, but never publicly discloses its research results, making its external statements difficult to independently verify.

On the other hand, the cooperation between OpenAI, which Altman vigorously promotes, and Helion has also triggered great controversy within the company.

Here is a summary of Altman's "entanglement of interests" with Helion lasting over 10 years—

• In 2015, Altman invested in Helion and became its board chairman. That year, he co-founded OpenAI.
• In 2021, during his leadership at OpenAI, Altman made an additional investment in Helion, pouring $375 million into it, setting the record for the largest single investment he had ever made in a startup.
• In 2024, OpenAI signed a non-binding agreement for future electricity purchases from Helion. In the trial between OpenAI and Musk, former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis (note: mother of Musk's four children) testified that this deal was "unexpected," as nuclear fusion remains a "speculative technology" (this phrase nearly suggests "this kind of project is a scam").

In 2025, Japanese investment firm SoftBank invested in OpenAI, and Altman subsequently lobbied SoftBank to invest in Helion, which SoftBank complied with. A few months later, according to the Wall Street Journal, Altman urged OpenAI to invest about $500 million in Helion, which made some OpenAI employees feel puzzled and uneasy. Ultimately, the OpenAI leadership rejected the investment proposal.

In 2026, OpenAI signed a revised agreement with Helion in March of this year; the same month, Altman resigned as chairman of Helion's board, citing future cooperation with OpenAI. OpenAI stated that "the board believes that the agreement is in the company's 'best interest'," without pointing out any inappropriate issues.

In June 2026, Helion announced it completed a new round of financing with a valuation of $15.5 billion, with strategic investor Thrive Capital from OpenAI participating. Insiders revealed that the value of Altman's holdings in Helion at least doubled, reaching at least $4.1 billion.

Lastly, the company behind World Coin, a familiar name in the industry, was once valued at $2.5 billion. The iris-scanning company Tools for Humanity, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Altman and others, has recently returned to the spotlight due to internal investigation scandals.

According to Business Insider, against the backdrop of cryptocurrency price crashes, global regulatory crackdowns, and business contraction layoffs, the company has also launched two investigations led by external law firms, targeting executive fund misuse and alleged regulatory violations in its Thailand business.

Previously, OpenAI came under scrutiny for the trillion-dollar contracts it secured with major cloud and chip companies, including a $500 billion collaboration with chip giant Nvidia, a $300 billion agreement with AMD, a $300 billion collaboration with cloud service provider Oracle, and a transaction with data center group CoreWeave valued at over $22 billion.

According to Forbes' billionaire rankings, Sam Altman currently ranks 1251st in the global billionaire list, with a personal net worth of around $3.4 billion. Additionally, he has investments in well-known tech companies like Stripe and Reddit. In April 2024, Altman was ranked 2692nd on this list; two years later, he has seen his net worth ranking rise by over 1400 places. It is noteworthy that this ranking reflects the wealth of over 8 billion people worldwide.