I just saw a supposed shareholder structure table of OpenAI circulating that reveals everything. Apparently, it leaked right when they announced the $122 billion funding round, and honestly, the numbers are quite revealing.



Microsoft is winning big. They invested a total of $13 billion (distributed from 2019 to 2024), and now that is worth around $228 billion with the current valuation of $852 billion. We're talking about a return of over 17 times. That is, Nadella made an impressive strategic move.

Then there's SoftBank with Masayoshi Son. They hold 11.66% and invested $64.6 billion. Their stake is now worth $99.3 billion, so the return is 1.5 times. Not bad, but much less spectacular than Microsoft. What's interesting is that Son has said that OpenAI is "the most important company on the planet," so he clearly believes in the long-term bet.

Nvidia here comes out with a slight loss. They hold 3.47%, valued at $29.6 billion, but their investment was $30.1 billion. Basically, they paid a little more expensive.

Now, what draws the most attention: Sam Altman doesn't own a single share. Zero. The CEO of OpenAI literally isn't a shareholder. Some speculate this will change when they go public, probably this year or next.

There's another juicy detail. The OpenAI Foundation controls 25.8% of the shares, valued at $219.8 billion, but at zero cost. It’s the largest "floating" asset on the table. It cannot be sold or used for leveraged financing. Theoretically, it exists to ensure that general AI benefits all of humanity.

But what really surprised me was discovering that Ashton Kutcher is involved in this. His Sound Ventures fund invested $30 million a few years ago, and now that is worth $1.3 billion. A 43x return. Kutcher co-founded Sound Ventures and, according to calculations, if he has a 30% actual stake in that investment, his personal gain is around $400 million. The guy bet heavily on AI in 2023, when he made a $240 million fund specifically dedicated to this. He distributed capital to Anthropic, StabilityAI, and OpenAI. If those companies follow OpenAI’s path, his profits could grow by several hundred million more.

What’s fascinating about all this is seeing how the early investors in OpenAI made a bet that multiplied exponentially. Microsoft saw the opportunity early and executed well. SoftBank bet big but entered later. And then there are cases like Sound Ventures, where the right timing and clear vision generated astronomical returns. Definitely one of those investment stories people will remember.
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