The message — which OpenAI lawyers made public on Sunday, and which Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers later refused to hear from the jury — underscores what Musk’s larger goal may be in this trial. It appears that he is trying not only to win over jurors to remove Brockman and CEO Sam Altman, but also to smear both individuals and damage OpenAI’s public image.
As soon as Brockman took the stand on Monday, Musk’s attorney Steven Molloy immediately began questioning him about his compensation at OpenAI. Brockman revealed that his equity stake in OpenAI is currently worth more than $20 billion and perhaps as much as $30 billion. While Brockman initially promised to donate $100,000 to OpenAI when it was founded, he said he ultimately never followed through.
Brockman has held several key roles at OpenAI since the company was founded in 2015. In the startup’s early days, it operated out of his apartment in San Francisco’s Mission District. Today, he is deeply involved in refocusing OpenAI on a few key products like Codex. In the past year, Brockman has given millions to super PACs promoting AI and President Trump, and has previously said this increased political spending is related to OpenAI’s founding mission of creating artificial general intelligence that benefits all humanity.
In court on Monday, Mollo tried to make the case that Brockman and Altman had essentially plundered OpenAI’s original nonprofit, which Musk funded and helped create.
In its early days, OpenAI told investors and employees that its non-profit mission took priority before generating profits. Brockman testified that his financial interests still come second to OpenAI’s non-profit mission today.
When OpenAI created its own for-profit arm in 2019, which received assets from the nonprofit, Brockman testified that he was given a significant stake in the new entity. Early in OpenAI’s history, Brockman mentioned his desire to become a billionaire, writing in his personal journal, “What will get me to $1B financially?”
On Monday, Mollo pressed Brockman for several minutes about the vast wealth he had accumulated beyond his initial goal.
“Why wasn’t that $29 billion donated to the OpenAI nonprofit? Why didn’t you do that?” Molo asked. Brockman responded that he and others have put “blood, sweat, and tears” into building OpenAI in the years since Musk left the company.
Brockman said OpenAI’s foundation has a stake of more than $150 billion in the company, making it one of the richest nonprofits in history. This is approximately five times Brockman’s ownership interest. Overall, OpenAI employees own about 25 percent of the shares. The Foundation holds 27 percent. Brockman testified that OpenAI’s nonprofit had received less than $150 million from donors, meaning Musk was incidental to the company’s success and the real drivers were those who engaged in building OpenAI.
Of course, if the company successfully goes public in the next two years, Brockman’s stake in OpenAI could be worth more than $30 billion. When asked if OpenAI was exploring a potential IPO, Brockman said he believed so.
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