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On September 25, 2024, three senior OpenAI technical leaders announced they were leaving just as Reuters reported that the company was considering a restructuring that could end its nonprofit board’s control of the operating business. The timing fueled speculation about an internal power struggle, but it did not establish that the departures were caused by the proposal. The plan was still under negotiation—and OpenAI’s later structure retained nonprofit control.
What happened in September 2024?
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced her departure on September 25, 2024. Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and research vice president Barret Zoph also announced that they were leaving that day. Reuters reported that OpenAI was considering turning its core business into a public-benefit corporation (PBC) that would no longer be controlled by the nonprofit board. The proposal was not a completed transaction or an approved final structure.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied that the departures were connected to the restructuring. He said the three leaders had made their decisions independently and amicably. The departures happened amid the debate; available reporting does not verify that the proposal caused them. Reuters reporting carried by ThePrint covered Altman’s denial, while the Associated Press reported on the executives’ announcements.
Who left, and when?
The September announcements came after several other high-profile changes. They should not be treated as one simultaneous mass resignation: the leaders left or took leave at different times and under different circumstances.
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- May 2024: Co-founder Ilya Sutskever, a leading research figure, left OpenAI. Jan Leike, who co-led the Superalignment team, also departed and publicly criticized the company’s safety priorities.
- August 2024: Co-founder John Schulman left for Anthropic. President and co-founder Greg Brockman began a leave of absence.
- September 25, 2024: Murati, McGrew and Zoph announced their departures.
These exits added to concern about leadership continuity and safety culture, but their timing alone does not prove that one dispute or decision drove them all.
What would the proposed restructuring have changed?
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015. In 2019, it created a for-profit subsidiary to raise capital and scale its work, while the nonprofit retained control. In the arrangement described before the 2024 proposal, the nonprofit board was not just an outside adviser: it had authority over the operating structure and was charged with protecting the organization’s mission.
The proposal reported in September 2024 would have made the core business a PBC and removed the nonprofit’s direct control. A PBC is still a for-profit company, though its corporate form recognizes a public or social purpose alongside financial interests. It is not the same as a nonprofit, and a stated public benefit does not itself guarantee how a company will balance that purpose against growth or returns.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Moving to a more conventional corporate structure could make it easier to issue equity, attract investment and offer compensation that competes for employees. Those considerations mattered in a business requiring enormous computing resources and competing with well-funded technology companies. Reuters reported that OpenAI was pursuing financing at a prospective valuation of about $150 billion. That was a reported target tied to a financing process—not a confirmed valuation or cash raised in a completed deal. Reuters’ report on the proposal also described the possible change to investor returns and governance.
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Would Sam Altman have taken control?
Reuters reported that the proposal could give Altman equity in OpenAI for the first time. The potential value, amount and terms were unclear, and depended in part on the company’s valuation. It is therefore inaccurate to say that Altman definitely received billions under the 2024 proposal—or that the proposal handed him sole control.
Equity and governance are different things. Equity represents an economic stake; governance rights determine who can appoint directors and make or oversee major decisions. The reported plan would have reduced the nonprofit board’s direct control and could have increased Altman’s influence, but the available reporting did not establish that he would become the company’s sole controller.
Why nonprofit control mattered
OpenAI’s structure was unusual because investors could provide capital to a commercial operation whose ultimate controller was a nonprofit board. That board had formal authority that included the ability to remove the CEO. Its decision to dismiss Altman in November 2023—and his subsequent return—showed both that the board’s power was real and that exercising it could trigger a severe conflict with employees, investors and commercial partners.
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →That history helps explain why the 2024 proposal was more than a change in paperwork. The question was who would have the final authority to weigh safety, fundraising, growth and executive accountability. Supporters of restructuring had practical reasons to seek more familiar investment and compensation arrangements. Critics could reasonably worry that ending nonprofit control would weaken a formal mechanism intended to prioritize the mission. That concern is about governance and incentives; it is not proof that a PBC would necessarily abandon safety.
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What happened to the proposal?
The 2024 proposal should not be confused with OpenAI’s eventual structure. OpenAI says its updated structure was announced on October 28, 2025: the nonprofit became the OpenAI Foundation, and the operating company became OpenAI Group, a PBC. According to OpenAI’s current structure page, the Foundation continues to control OpenAI Group through special voting and governance rights. It appoints the Group’s board members and can replace directors.
OpenAI also reports that the Foundation holds a significant equity stake and a warrant tied to future valuation milestones. Its stated post-recapitalization ownership figures are 26% for the Foundation, roughly 27% for Microsoft and 47% for employees, former employees and other investors. Those are company-reported economic ownership figures; they do not replace the separate question of who holds governance control. The key point is that the Foundation’s reported 26% stake does not mean it lacks control: OpenAI says its special rights preserve that control.
How to read the headline accurately
The headline captures a real collision of events, but overstates what was settled. Three senior leaders announced departures on the same day Reuters reported a proposal that could have removed nonprofit control. The departures were not proven to be caused by that proposal; the proposal had not been finalized; and the later arrangement retained Foundation control. The episode is best understood as a high-stakes governance debate unfolding alongside an executive exodus—not as a completed transfer of control to Altman.
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