zlacker

>>davidb+(OP)
> Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.

> Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.

Wow

>>jborde+g1
So this is probably indicative of a scandal of some sort right?

>>DylanB+03
Yes, very likely Altman has done something _very_ wrong, and the board wants to maintain plausible deniability.

>>jurgen+R3
On paper, Sam Altman would have made everyone on the board billionaires. For them to vote him out in this manner indicates that he must have done something egregious to jeopardize that.

Lying on P&L, stock sale agreements, or turning down an acquisition offer under difficult circumstances seems likely.

>>lumost+Z7
As noted in the release: "The majority of the board is independent, and the independent directors do not hold equity in OpenAI."

>>iandan+P8
In fact, I believe Altman was the only member of the board that held equity in OpenAI. There was some vague reference to a “previous VC arrangement” in the FAQ.

>>nonfam+pb
Sam Altman had no equity in OpenAI https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/24/openai-ceo-sam-altman-didnt-...

He confirmed it verbally as well in his May 2023 hearing in Congress https://twitter.com/thesamparr/status/1658554712151433219?la...

>>samspe+0g
From https://openai.com/our-structure :

> Even OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, does not hold equity directly. His only interest is indirectly through a Y Combinator investment fund that made a small investment in OpenAI before he was full-time.

That word “directly” seems to be relevant here.