Elon Musk is pursuing $79 billion to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the AI startup defrauded him by abandoning its nonprofit mission, Bloomberg first reported. The demand is based on a valuation analysis conducted by financial expert C. Paul Wazzan, who has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation.
Wazzan calculated the damages using Musk’s $38 million seed donation from 2015, combined with his technical and business contributions to OpenAI’s early development. According to the report, Wazzan determined Musk is entitled to $65.5 billion to $109.4 billion from OpenAI and $13.3 billion to $25.1 billion from Microsoft, which currently holds a 27% stake in the AI company. The figures reflect a potential return more than 3,500 times Musk’s initial investment.
Legal Context and Financial Implications
Musk’s legal team frames the lawsuit as compensation for early-stage contributions, arguing he deserves returns “many orders of magnitude greater” than his initial investment. While the damages demand is substantial, it is dwarfed by Musk’s personal wealth, currently estimated at around $700 billion. Forbes recently highlighted that Musk’s fortune exceeds Google co-founder Larry Page’s by approximately $500 billion.
The lawsuit coincides with broader scrutiny of OpenAI’s business model and its transition from a nonprofit to a capped-profit structure. OpenAI has reportedly informed investors and partners that Musk’s claims are “deliberately outlandish” and intended to attract attention, ahead of the trial scheduled for April in Oakland, California.
Observers note that even the upper-end damages figure of $134 billion would represent a relatively modest addition to Musk’s overall wealth. Nonetheless, the case underscores ongoing tensions between the tech entrepreneur and the AI company he helped co-found.
