Inside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s $193m property portfolio

The boss of the company that gave the world groundbreaking AI bot ChatGPT has quietly built himself a property empire.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has amassed a huge property portfolio.

Sam Altman’s OpenAI, the company behind global phenomenon ChatGPT, has made a groundbreaking AUD $9.9 billion purchase, acquiring a fledgling devices company started by a former iPhone designer — a deal that was announced with much aplomb by the two tech founders.

In a statement shared on OpenAI’s website, San Francisco-based Altman, 40, voiced his excitement over the acquisition of the start-up, called io, while revealing that he had been “quietly collaborating” with the company’s founder, Jony Ive, for two years.

“The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” he wrote.

The all-stock deal is OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date, according to the Wall Street Journal, and will see Altman working with Ive on a design for AI “companions,” which he reportedly told his employees about one day before announcing the io acquisition.

Altman’s purchase of the company comes just a few months after he made a rather hefty personal purchase in the form of three San Francisco homes, which he snapped up in January for AUD $19.96 million each, according to property records.

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Altman's purchase of io comes just months after he expanded his property collection in San Francisco. Picture: Realtor.com

In 2020, Altman spent $27 million on a historic home in Russian Hill. He has since filed a lawsuit against the developer who sold it to him, alleging that the house had a number of defects. Picture: Realtor.com

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The three dwellings are all located next to a historic six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Russian Hill mansion that he purchased for AUD $42 million in 2020 — before later becoming embroiled in a bitter and lengthy legal battle with its developer, Greg Malin, and his company, Troon Pacific, over claims that the home was “plagued by shoddy construction”, Realtor.com reports.

Altman, who filed the 2024 lawsuit via the LLC through which he purchased the 1907 home, claimed in legal documents seen by Realtor.com that Malin’s company carried out “substandard work” on the home to save money during its multiyear renovation project.

“Owner … alleges that developer skimped on competent or qualified construction managers, designers, and contractors for the development of the property,” the filing states.

The suit adds that Altman had no “prior knowledge of the rancour, poor supervision, shoddy workmanship, corner-cutting, and financial embezzlement” he believes were involved in the project when he purchased the home.

Altman’s LLC “entered into negotiations to purchase what it believed to be a beautiful, luxury home in San Francisco,” it goes on. “When first put on the market, it was reported to be the most expensive home listing in San Francisco history, and it seemed obvious why.”

The filing then calls attention to the home’s most appealing amenities, including “stunning views,” floor-to-ceiling glass doors that provide an indoor-outdoor setting, an elevator, a garden with 100-year-old olive trees, a historic cottage, and an infinity pool that overlooks downtown San Francisco.

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A lawsuit filed on behalf of the LLC used to buy the home described the property as a "lemon." Picture: Realtor.com

Altman has since purchased three homes that sit alongside his San Francisco abode, paying $37.5 million for the trio.

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However, Altman’s lawyers claim that, after buying the home, which was described as a “lemon” in the filing, he discovered a wide range of “pervasive defects,” including issues with drainage, plumbing, waterproofing, and sewer systems.

The lawsuit claims that repairs to the home would cost more than AUD $6.24 million — and notes that the LLC connected to Altman was seeking unspecified damages from Malin and Troon Pacific, as well as interest and legal fees.

Altman’s lawsuit is ongoing — however, it appears that he plans to hold on to the property and potentially expand it with the purchase of the three adjacent dwellings, which were all bought together for a total of AUD $60 million, as first reported by The Real Deal.

The three homes are all registered to the same LLC, which is managed by Altman’s cousin, Jennifer Serralta, who also oversees the LLCs connected to his other property purchases.

Much like the OpenAI CEO’s original Russian Hill home, the properties were all built in the early 1900s and had previously been purchased together to form a large compound by their previous owners in 1994, records indicate.

The dwellings were the latest in a line of real estate acquisitions made by the tech mogul, who boasts an awe-inspiring collection of homes beyond his San Francisco holdings.

In November 2023, Business Insider reported that Altman had quietly snapped up an enormous estate in Hawaii in July 2021 for $67 million.

In 2023, it was reported that Altman had snapped up an enormous estate in Hawaii.

The ranch was listed for $25.5 million, but Altman managed to purchase it for $15.7 million. Picture: Realtor.com

The 12-bedroom dwelling is located in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island and sits next to a reconstruction of the temple of King Kamehamela I, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

A Google Maps view of the oceanfront home reveals that it boasts a tennis court, swimming pool, and multiple guesthouses.

Per Business Insider, Altman has a company registered to an adjacent address — the Sam Altman Qualified Opportunity Fund — and has previously shared an image of himself wakesurfing in Hawaii.

The home no doubt provides the OpenAI CEO with an idyllic beach escape, that is when it doesn’t feel like spending time at his other vacation abode, a stunning ranch in Napa, CA, where he and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, spend many of his weekends, according to the New York Times.

Altman invited a Times reporter, Cade Metz, to visit the home in 2023, with the resulting article noting that the 25-year-old home had been remodelled to “look both folksy and contemporary.”

The report noted that Altman, who is a vegetarian, and his then-partner were raising beef cattle on the land surrounding the home, which was tended to by farmhands, who also grew wine grapes on the property.

He is also said to have purchased a 950-acre ranch in Napa, CA, in 2020. Picture: Realtor.com

He uses the property as a weekend retreat. Picture: Realtor.com

According to records, the ranch — which spans a staggering 950 acres — was purchased for AUD $24.5 million in 2020, having initially been listed for AUD $40 million.

Property records show that the ranch, named Green Valley Ranch, was purchased through an LLC that Altman’s cousin, Serralta, is also the manager of.

At the time of the sale, reports revealed that the ranch had previously been owned by a group of eight men, who had used the property “communally” for 42 years.

One of those men, Hollywood lighting designer Bob Dickinson, told the CT Post that the buyer, who had “asked to remain nameless,” had a “complete passion for the land.”

“This little postage stamp of indigenous undisturbed California, it’s hard to explain how marvellous it is to live where there are still river otters on your property and oaks that are centuries old,” said Dickinson.

“He gets it. He’s enthusiastic about it. He’s not a group like we were, but he has a very close family and I think his motivation is to make it the same kind of community experience with his family and friends.”

The original listing noted that the ranch was made up of nine parcels of land that were home to five “unique residences”: the main ranch house, a terra guesthouse, a meadow house, a “Palladian-inspired lake house,” and a “charming artist house.”