If you gave someone money to start a non-profit and that person later converts the organization into a for-profit one. Even if you agree on that conversion, do you expect that organization to give you equity in that for-profit firm? And if that is the case, what would be the fair equity percentage? Yes, would it be based at the time the money was given or what the company is worth now?
As Elon Musk and OpenAI battle, I can tell you where Musk is going: OpenAI for-profit business, convert my original donation to equity, and send me my share certificate. Musk does not need to win any case for that to be the final outcome when we remember that kids who attended Mark Zuckerberg’s university dorm meeting as he envisioned Facebook were settled for contributing to Facebook even though they did not drop out with Mark, to build it. Yes, that Musk played along for the non-profit to for-profit transmutation does not mean his original donation should not give him equity.
If you see it differently, please let me know why you think Musk does not deserve a fair share of this profit-making OpenAI. Lawyers in the house, please help…
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If you gave someone money to start a non-profit and that person later converts the organization into a for-profit one. Even if you agree on that conversion, do you expect that organization to give you equity in that for-profit firm? And if that is the case, what would be the fair… pic.twitter.com/M1km5x7teQ
— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) March 7, 2024
In March 2024, Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, sued the company and its CEO, Sam Altman. Musk’s lawsuit claims that OpenAI has breached their founding agreement to develop AI for the benefit of humanity by partnering with Microsoft and stopping much of its internal research. Musk also claims that OpenAI has become a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft that is focused on making money instead of benefitting humanity.
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