# Sam Altman

CEO, OpenAI. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. OpenAI's board fired him in November 2023, and he was back in charge five days later after more than 700 of 770 employees threatened to quit. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))

- Born: 1985-04-22, Chicago, Illinois, United States ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Education: attended, no degree, Computer science, Stanford University ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- Career: OpenAI (CEO, 2015 to now); Hydrazine Capital (Co-founder, 2012 to now); Y Combinator (President, 2011–2019); Loopt (Co-founder and CEO, 2005–2012) ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/mark-chen-sam-altman-greg-brockman/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/sam-altman

- Left Stanford after two years to build Loopt, a location-sharing app he started at 19 and sold for $43.4 million in 2012. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- OpenAI's board fired him in November 2023; he was back five days later after more than 700 of 770 staff threatened to quit. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman))
- Ran Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019; the accelerator had funded about 1,900 companies when he left. ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Credits poker with teaching him how to make decisions with very imperfect information. ([britannica.com](https://www.britannica.com/money/Sam-Altman))
- Co-founded Merge Labs in 2026, a brain-computer interface lab, years after writing an essay about humans merging with machines. ([openai.com](https://openai.com/index/investing-in-merge-labs/))
- Stepped down as chair of nuclear company Oklo in 2025 and fusion company Helion in 2026 as OpenAI sought power deals with them. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/23/sam-altman-openai-fusion-energy-board-helion/))