OpenAI’s Cap Table Is Out: Microsoft Made 17x, SoftBank Is Up $50B, and Sam Altman Owns Nothing

TLDR

  • Microsoft invested ~$13B in OpenAI and that stake is now worth ~$228B — a 17x return
  • SoftBank committed $64.6B and is up over $50B, with its stake valued at ~$99.3B
  • Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, holds zero equity in the company
  • The OpenAI Foundation owns 25.8% at zero cost — and controls 100% of board appointments
  • Nvidia is slightly underwater, with a $30.1B cost basis against a $29.6B current value

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A leaked cap table showing who owns what inside OpenAI has been circulating online since early April. The document was posted on X by investor Sheel Mohnot and appears to be reconstructed from public filings and secondary-market data. It puts OpenAI’s current post-money valuation at $852 billion, following a $122 billion funding round.

The OpenAI cap table tells two stories at once.

Microsoft put in $13B and is sitting on $228B. 17.6x. Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures put in $30M and has $1.3B. 43x. Original 2015-era angels invested $10M and are looking at ~140x.

Then there’s the late money. SoftBank wrote a… https://t.co/eRRDYgR6AI pic.twitter.com/KJCSmRwuVu

— Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) April 2, 2026

The table breaks down ownership stakes, cost bases, and return multiples for every major investor. The numbers give the clearest public picture yet of who stands to gain when OpenAI eventually goes public.

Microsoft is the biggest winner on the table. The company put in around $13 billion across several rounds — starting with $1 billion in 2019, then $10 billion in January 2023, and another $2 billion in 2024. Its 26.79% stake is now estimated to be worth $228.3 billion, a return of roughly 17.6x. No other investor comes close to that multiple at the same scale.

Microsoft’s 10-Q filings confirm the $13 billion investment figure. OpenAI did flag Microsoft as a business risk in a recent investor document, citing revenue-sharing terms and cloud exclusivity arrangements.

SoftBank has committed $64.6 billion to OpenAI, making it the largest single cash investor outside of Microsoft. Its 11.66% stake is now valued at around $99.3 billion. That puts SoftBank up more than $50 billion on the position. CNBC confirmed SoftBank fully funded its $40 billion commitment by December 2025, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs providing a $40 billion bridge loan.

Early Investors Earned Big Multiples

Early-stage investors earned the highest return multiples, though their dollar gains are smaller. Khosla Ventures put in around $50 million in 2019 and its stake is now worth about $1.5 billion — a roughly 30x return. Sound Ventures, co-founded by actor Ashton Kutcher, invested around $20–30 million and is now sitting on about $1.3 billion, a 43x multiple. Thrive Capital invested $3.5 billion and holds a 1.98% stake now worth $16.9 billion.



Nvidia is the one name in the red. It holds 3.47% of OpenAI, valued at $29.6 billion, against a cost basis of $30.1 billion. A large portion of Nvidia’s investment was made in GPU compute credits rather than cash, which complicates the return calculation.

Sam Altman Has No Stake — Yet

One of the most discussed details in the table is that Sam Altman, who has led OpenAI since 2019, holds no equity in the company. His stake is listed as TBD. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor confirmed in October 2024 that no specific equity figures had been decided. Altman himself denied reports of a pending equity grant at a company all-hands meeting.

The OpenAI Foundation, the original nonprofit, holds 25.8% of the company at zero cost — giving it an infinite return multiple on an estimated $219.8 billion in value. Despite being a minority economic shareholder, the Foundation controls 100% of board appointments.

OpenAI is reportedly planning an IPO in 2026 or early 2027 at a potential $1 trillion valuation. That event is widely expected to be when Altman’s equity situation is resolved.


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