Elon Reignites the OpenAI War… Demands a $134B Founder’s Cut for Emotional Damages

Everyone: “Surely Elon has let the Sam Altman beef go…”

Elon Musk: “Hello, I’d like to monetize my feelings.”

The man who once dropped $38 million on OpenAI and then left the project because “it was taking too long” is now asking a jury to Venmo him somewhere between $79B and $134B because, according to his lawyers, he was emotionally and philosophically rugged.

Yes… Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for allegedly betraying OpenAI’s nonprofit roots… and also for becoming one of the most valuable private companies on Earth (most importantly) without cutting him in for the upside.

Where did this number come from?

According to Musk’s legal team, he’s entitled to a “chunk” of OpenAI’s current $500 billion valuation because he helped found the company back in 2015… and because early investors sometimes make insane returns. Translation: “Yes I gave you $38M, but spiritually that was worth $134B.”

(Source: PC Mag)

A financial economist hired by Musk’s camp crunched the numbers and concluded OpenAI wrongfully gained $65B-$109B, while Microsoft allegedly pocketed another $13B-$25B from the whole thing. Combine it all, sprinkle in some punitive damages, and boom… you’ve got yourself the most expensive breakup in Silicon Valley history.

OpenAI and Microsoft’s response? In short: absolutely not.

They’ve called the lawsuit “baseless,” the math “made up,” and the demand “unserious,” arguing Musk is trying to extract up to 2,900x his original investment from a nonprofit organization… while simultaneously running his own AI company.

Which is… actually a pretty good rebuttal.

For context, Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018, then came roaring back into the AI chat in 2023 with his own venture, all while accusing Sam Altman of turning OpenAI into a for-profit monster under Microsoft’s wing.

OpenAI, meanwhile, says this whole thing is just legal system cosplay… a weaponized lawsuit designed to slow down a competitor and dominate headlines (mission very much accomplished).

However, there’s a small problem for Sammy boy. A federal judge just rejected OpenAI and Microsoft’s attempt to dodge a jury trial, meaning this circus is officially heading to court in April.

But let’s not kid ourselves here.

Elon isn’t suing because of morals. He’s suing because his ego can’t process a world where Sam Altman makes this much money without him standing nearby.

You don’t become the richest man on Earth by being Mr. Let-It-Go.

And luckily for all of us, we all get to see a financial version of the Depp/Heard trial once again (don’t ask me which one is Amber Heard in this reference).

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Microsoft as mentioned in the article.