Sam Altman reveals the investing advice billionaire Peter Thiel gave him that helped him amass a $3.3 billion net worth without OpenAI equity

Sam Altman has amassed a net worth of over $3.3 billion without any equity in his AI company, OpenAI, despite its $852 billion valuation. The billionaire credits venture capitalists Peter Thiel and Paul Graham for the investment philosophy that shaped his portfolio. Altman explained on the Invest Like The Best podcast that successful companies are rarely the ones that look popular.

Instead, the best opportunities often involve doing things that are not what everyone else is doing. He has put this approach into practice, making early investments in various startups including Reddit, Airbnb, Stripe, and the nuclear fusion firm Helion. Before his rise to fame with OpenAI, Altman dropped out of Stanford and started his career in Silicon Valley's startup scene.

His first company, Loopt, caught the attention of Paul Graham, a pioneer of the startup accelerator Y Combinator, who later became one of its earliest investors and helped Altman lead the organization. At Hydrazine, the venture fund he launched after selling Loopt in 2012, Thiel was the largest outside investor. Both Thiel and Buffett emphasize the importance of independent thinking in successful investing, urging investors to think for themselves rather than simply opposing the crowd.