Author：Wall Street CN
A leaked equity structure chart of OpenAI has revealed the internal distribution of profits within the AI company to the public for the first time.
A cap table, purportedly from OpenAI, has recently been widely circulated online. According to a report by Celebrity Net Worth on April 3, the document surfaced almost simultaneously with news of OpenAI's latest funding round—OpenAI just completed a $122 billion funding round, valuing the company at $852 billion. The report states that the document "appears to be authentic."
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 collectively hold approximately 20% of the shares.
Microsoft's $13 billion investment has risen to $228.3 billion, while SoftBank's $64 billion investment is now worth approximately $99.3 billion.
The most striking point is that CEO Sam Altman still has no shares on the equity list.
Microsoft's returns were the most impressive, followed by SoftBank, while Nvidia suffered a small loss.
From an investment return perspective, Microsoft is the biggest winner on this equity list.
According to data from Forbes cited by Wall Street Engine on the X platform,Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion in total. Based on the current valuation of $852 billion, the value of its shares is approximately $228.3 billion, representing a return of more than 17 times.
Microsoft is the largest single shareholder of OpenAI, with CEO Satya Nadella committing a total investment of approximately $13 billion, to be invested in multiple phases. This includes $1 billion in 2019, $10 billion in January 2023 (confirmed in Microsoft's 10-Q report), and an additional $2 billion in 2024.
SoftBank Group, led by Masayoshi Son, holds an 11.66% stake in OpenAI, valued at $99.3 billion.Its investment cost was $64.6 billion, making it the largest single investment outside of Microsoft shareholders. The return on investment was 1.5 times.
SoftBank's portfolio is quite complex. Approximately $500 million came from its Series E funding round, $30 billion from its massive Series F round, and about $34 billion from its Series G round. Masayoshi Son once called OpenAI "the most important company on Earth."
Nvidia's investment returns resulted in a "small loss".Nvidia holds a 3.47% stake in OpenAI, valued at $29.6 billion, with a cost of $30.1 billion.
The OpenAI Foundation holds a 25.8% stake, valuing the company at approximately $219.8 billion, with a cost of zero.Analysts say the foundation's 25.80% stake is the largest dangling asset in its equity structure. It cannot be sold or used for leveraged financing. Theoretically, its existence is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.
Sam Altman currently has no equity stake; an IPO could be a turning point.
Another detail that has garnered significant attention in the equity statement is that Sam Altman does not own any shares in OpenAI.
Celebrity Net Worth reported that this question was asked directly: "What else is he doing here?" and pointed out that this situation "will almost certainly change" once OpenAI goes public.
OpenAI is reportedly planning to go public with a market capitalization of $1 trillion this year or early next year.
Ashton Kutcher: $30 million becomes $1.3 billion
The equity statement, line 22, reveals a rather controversial name: Sound Ventures.
This venture capital firm holds a 0.15% stake in OpenAI, with an investment cost of approximately $30 million, which translates to approximately $1.3 billion at the current valuation, representing a return of about 43 times.
One of the co-founders of Sound Ventures is Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher.
It should be noted that not all of the $1.3 billion belongs to Kutcher personally. Sound Ventures is a fund with a profit-sharing structure involving external LPs (limited partners) and GPs (general partners).
According to Celebrity Net Worth's estimates, if Kutcher conservatively assumes an actual exposure of approximately 30% to this investment, his personal holdings are worth around $400 million. Including other assets, the media outlet estimates Kutcher's current net worth at approximately $600 million. If OpenAI goes public with a valuation of $1 trillion, the value of his holdings will further increase to approximately $470 million.
Sound Ventures invested in OpenAI when it was valued at approximately $20 billion to $29 billion, at the beginning of the AI boom in 2023.
In May 2023, Sound Ventures announced the completion of a $240 million AI-focused fund, which was oversubscribed.
Kutcher's assessment at the time was: "Artificial intelligence will be the most important technological revolution after the internet."
The fund subsequently deployed its capital to several AI infrastructure companies, including Anthropic, StabilityAI, and OpenAI.
Celebrity Net Worth points out that if other bets, such as Anthropic, follow OpenAI's trajectory, Kutcher's returns from the fund "could easily increase by hundreds of millions of dollars."
