Online rumors of OpenAI's "Equity Structure Chart": Microsoft's "$13 billion investment" has increased to "$228.3 billion"

A seemingly leaked OpenAI cap table has, for the first time, put the internal profit-allocation arrangement of this AI company in front of the public.

Recently, a cap table said to be from OpenAI has been widely circulating online. On April 3, Celebrity Net Worth reported that the document was exposed almost simultaneously with OpenAI’s latest round of fundraising news—OpenAI has just completed a $122 billion round of financing, valuing the company at $852 billion. The report said the document “looks real.”

According to the document, OpenAI’s top five shareholders are: Microsoft (26.79%), the OpenAI Foundation (25.8%), SoftBank (11.66%), Amazon (4.66%), and NVIDIA (3.47%). Current and former employees combined hold about 20%.

Microsoft’s “$13 billion investment” has risen to “$228.3 billion,” and SoftBank’s $64 billion investment is currently worth about $99.3 billion.

The most eye-catching item: CEO Sam Altman still has no equity listed in the cap table.

Microsoft has the brightest returns, followed by SoftBank, with NVIDIA posting a slight loss

In terms of investment returns, Microsoft is the biggest winner on this cap table.

Citing data from Forbes, the Wall St Engine on the X platform reported that Microsoft has cumulatively invested about $13 billion. Based on the current $852 billion valuation, the value of its stake is about $228.3 billion, with a book return of more than 17x.

Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest single shareholder. CEO Nadella’s total investment commitment is about $13 billion, deployed in multiple phases. These include $1 billion in 2019, $10 billion in January 2023 (confirmed in Microsoft’s 10-Q report), and an additional $2 billion in 2024.

The SoftBank Group led by Sun Zhengyi holds 11.66% of OpenAI, valued at $99.3 billion. Its investment cost was $64.6 billion, making it the largest single investment amount aside from the Microsoft shareholder. Return on investment is 1.5x.

SoftBank’s holdings are relatively complex. Of the amount, about $500 million came from the Series E round, $30 billion from the massive Series F round, and about $34 billion from the Series G round. Sun Zhengyi once described OpenAI as “the most important company on Earth.”

NVIDIA’s investment return is described as a “slight loss.” NVIDIA holds 3.47% of OpenAI, worth $29.6 billion, while its cost is $30.1 billion

The OpenAI Foundation holds 25.8%, valued at about $219.8 billion, with a cost of zero. The analysis says that the 25.80% stake held by the foundation is the largest “floating” asset in the equity-structure table. It cannot be sold, nor can it be used for leveraged financing. In theory, its existence is meant to ensure that AGI (general artificial intelligence) benefits all of humanity.

Sam Altman has no equity to date; an IPO could be the turning point

Another widely watched detail in the cap table is: Sam Altman has no OpenAI equity under his name.

Celebrity Net Worth reported asking this question directly: “Otherwise, what is he doing here?” It also pointed out that once OpenAI goes public, this situation will “almost certainly change.”

OpenAI is currently reportedly planning to list this year or at the beginning of next year with a market capitalization of $1 trillion.

Ashton Kutcher: $30 million turns into $1.3 billion

Line 22 of the cap table discloses a rather headline-worthy name: Sound Ventures.

This venture capital firm holds 0.15% equity in OpenAI. Its investment cost is about $30 million, which translates to about $1.3 billion based on the current valuation—an approximate return multiple of about 43x.

One of Sound Ventures’ co-founders is Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher.

It should be noted that these $1.3 billion are not entirely attributed to Kutcher personally. Sound Ventures is a fund, and there is a profit-allocation structure between external LPs (limited partners) and GPs (general partners).

According to Celebrity Net Worth’s estimate, assuming a conservative calculation of about 30% of Kutcher’s actual exposure to this investment, his personal stake would be about $400 million. Adding other assets, the outlet estimates Kutcher’s current net worth at about $600 million. If OpenAI lists with a $1 trillion valuation, the value of his stake would rise further to about $470 million.

Sound Ventures took a stake when OpenAI’s valuation was about $20 billion to $29 billion—right at the beginning of the 2023 AI boom.

In May 2023, Sound Ventures announced the successful close of a $240 million fund focused on AI, with an oversubscribed round.

Kutcher’s judgment at the time was: “Artificial intelligence will be the most important technological transformation after the internet.”

The fund later deployed capital into multiple AI infrastructure companies, including Anthropic, StabilityAI, and OpenAI.

Celebrity Net Worth noted that if other bets like Anthropic also follow OpenAI’s trajectory, the returns Kutcher obtains from this fund “could easily increase by several hundred million dollars more.”

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