Court Exhibit·13 SEP 2017
How to Split Control When Everyone Brings Something Different
In a founding negotiation, spelling out who decides what — in writing — is more valuable than any equity number.
Source document — Ilya Sutskever Email to Elon Musk and Greg Brockman: Current State · Musk v. Altman (OpenAI) · 4:24-cv-04722 (CAND), Doc. 391-23, filed 2026-01-16
Excerpt · In Ilya Sutskever's own words
Hi Elon, To summarize our understanding of the current state: On equity: Greg: 10M grant/10M investment. Sam: 10M grant/10M investment. Ilya: 12M grant/2.5M investment + 5.5M loan from Greg securitized by Ilya's YC vested stock, from his work at OpenAI. On control: 3 board seats for Elon, 1 board seat each for Ilya/Greg/Sam. Plan to expand board over time through unanimous consent of current board, up to 12 people. Details TBD on tiebreak and whether the directors are statically allocated. On credit: Elon is extremely happy to help Greg and Ilya get credit for their work — and is very open to any ideas Greg and Ilya may have. Looking forward to the conclusions of your conversation with Sam tomorrow. — Ilya
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How this surfaced
- Source type
- Court Exhibit
- Case / record
- Musk v. Altman (OpenAI)
- Citation
- 4:24-cv-04722 (CAND), Doc. 391-23, filed 2026-01-16
- Date authored
- September 13, 2017
- License
- Public domain
- Original
- View the primary source →
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