The Leadership Letter

Real correspondence from the people running real companies — and what it reveals about leadership.

Ilya Sutskever Writes Elon Musk a New Year's Note from Inside OpenAI

Written just weeks before Musk's departure from the OpenAI board, this note captures a moment of genuine collegiality between two figures who would later become adversaries in court.

Hi Elon, We've been working together for almost exactly two years, so it felt appropriate to send this note. I enjoy working together. You quickly pushed me out of my academic comfort zone. With time, I grew to appreciate the vast depth of your strategic insight -- I can think of many examples, the biggest one is the decision to build the custom hardware. I've made my share of non-negligible mistakes in 2017, but their lessons will help us overcome the harder challenges of the future. We're trying to accomplish a difficult task, but with effort, we may be able to do it. It helps that we have the most overwhelmingly competent person in the world helping us. Happy 2018. Let's make 2017 pale in comparison.

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Court Exhibit
Musk v. Altman (OpenAI)
4:24-cv-04722 (CAND), Doc. 379-70, filed 2026-01-06
January 1, 2018
Public domain
View the primary source →