Elon Musk’s Bid for OpenAI

Elon Musk has launched a $97.4 billion bid to take control of OpenAI, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. A group of investors led by Musk’s xAI submitted an unsolicited offer to the company’s board of directors on Monday, seeking to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI’s for-profit arm.

When asked for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson pointed to an X post from CEO Sam Altman, which stated, "No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." This response was made on the social media platform owned by Musk.

Rejection of the Bid

On Friday, OpenAI’s board of directors officially rejected Musk’s bid. In a statement attributed to Bret Taylor, the chair of OpenAI’s board of directors, the company said, "OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition. Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity."

Taylor, incidentally, was the chairman of Twitter’s board before Musk bought the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022.

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition. Any potential reorganization of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity.”

—Bret Taylor, Chair, on behalf of OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) February 14, 2025

Musk’s Response

Musk stated, "It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens." This statement was shared by his attorney with The Journal.

OpenAI’s Corporate Structure

A flow chart detailing OpenAI’s corporate structure is shown below:

Analysis

It is unclear how serious Musk’s bid is and what chance it has to succeed. OpenAI’s nonprofit structure, which Sam Altman and others at the company want to maintain, may protect it from Musk’s offer. If OpenAI were a for-profit company with publicly traded shares, Musk’s bid would likely trigger a Revlon moment, where the company’s board of directors would be forced to sell to the highest bidder to maximize shareholder profits.

Update

Updated on 02/14 4:34PM ET to include the response from OpenAI’s board of directors.

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