Ilya Sutskever Discloses $7bn OpenAI Stake During Musk-OpenAI Litigation
May 12, 2026 - 10:03 am
The former OpenAI chief scientist, who now runs Safe Superintelligence, gave this figure under oath. It places him among the largest individual shareholders in the company.
Ilya Sutskever, the former chief scientist of OpenAI who now runs Safe Superintelligence Inc., disclosed during testimony in the Musk-OpenAI litigation on Monday that his ownership stake in OpenAI is worth approximately $7bn, according to Reuters and other outlets.
This disclosure makes Sutskever one of the largest individual shareholders in OpenAI, alongside Sam Altman and a small number of early backers. He was a co-founder of OpenAI and one of the company’s most cited researchers before leaving in May 2024 amid a boardroom dispute that briefly removed Altman as CEO.
His testimony was part of Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI, which challenges the company's transition from a non-profit research entity to a capped-profit and commercial structure, and asks the court to revisit its corporate governance arrangements.
Sutskever was called as a witness due to his role as co-founder and his presence on the board during the contested period. The $7bn figure was disclosed in the context of his answers to questions about his current financial relationship with the company.
OpenAI closed its most recent primary round at an $852bn post-money valuation.
Sutskever’s holding has not been disclosed in detail prior. Public commentary on OpenAI cap table composition has been limited; secondary market price discovery activity has implied wide dispersion between the primary round mark and recent secondary lots.
Sutskever's own current venture, Safe Superintelligence, reached a $32bn valuation in its most recent round, having raised more than $3bn to date with no product disclosed to the public. The company is focused, as its name implies, on building safe superintelligence, with a research-only operating model under Sutskever’s direction.
The disclosure of Sutskever's OpenAI stake is procedurally significant for the Musk case in several respects. It clarifies the scale of the financial interest the original founding cohort retained after OpenAI's restructuring; it provides a data point Musk's legal team can use to argue that OpenAI's transition from non-profit benefited a small number of insiders; and it complicates Sutskever’s position as a witness, given that his testimony bears on the value of an asset he holds.
Court filings have not released the precise legal form of Sutskever’s stake (whether common, preferred or profit-participation units) or the vesting schedule. OpenAI declined to comment on his testimony, citing the active litigation. Sutskever himself has not commented publicly on the disclosure.
The Musk case is being heard in the Northern District of California. Trial is scheduled for the autumn, although several procedural motions remain outstanding. The court has indicated it may consolidate Musk’s claims with those from other investors.