I read the news that the Board of OpenAI has fired the most successful CEO of this decade as no other human has come close to what he achieved with his team in ChatGPT. Yes, Sam Altman was kicked out by some people who see business as moving files. Possibly he was not asking for expressly written approvals before attending customer meetings since the board’s decision was not related to “malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices.”
Of course, investors who actually put money in OpenAI will likely kick out these board members and bring Sam back. In the Igbo Nation, they say that white ants seem beautiful but no chicken likes to eat them. The implication is that it is not everything which glitters that is gold. Yes, ChatGPT may be glittering, but it takes uncommon visionaries to make it gold.
Today, Sam is considered the best in this game and changing him because of the feelings of some board members will be own-goals. I do think he will return because it would be pure stupidity for investors like Microsoft to allow this mess to stand.
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Sam Altman Steps down as OpenAI’s CEO, He moved Company’s Value from Zero to $80B (Could Return)
Pay attention to your company structure!
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Comment: I admire Sam Altman, but his dismissal by the board over trivial reasons at this early stage of the company suggests a weakness on his part.
Success in business goes beyond skills and vision; one must also navigate organizational politics.
Could anyone pull such a move on Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk?
My Response: “I admire Sam Altman, but his dismissal by the board over trivial reasons at this early stage of the company suggests a weakness on his part.” – NOT really. Corporations are people, Mitt Romney will say.
Sam does not have any power as his equity is VERY small or zero. Mark owns about 23% of Meta (Facebook) but he controls close to 61% of the voting rights. Musk the same via direct and indirect equity. There is nothing like weakness: it is about percentages and who owns the company.
If the person with say 51% says it is time, that ends it! That is the way it works.
Prof, I am not sure Ilya Sutskever is a file mover. He is a co-founder too.
— Okolocha Emeka (@pharmmekus) November 19, 2023
My Response: No one is indeed. For Sam who does not have equity or if he does, it is very small, there is nothing he can do. Corporations are people and they control the 100%. Zuckerberg owns about 20% plus of Meta but controls 61% of the voting rights which means NO HUMAN can remove him under normal circumstances.
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