tech
January 17, 2026
Musk wants up to $134B in OpenAI lawsuit, despite $700B fortune
Musk's legal team argues he should be compensated as an early startup investor who sees returns "many orders of magnitude greater" than his initial investment.
TL;DR
- Elon Musk is seeking $79 billion to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft.
- The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI defrauded Musk by abandoning its nonprofit mission.
- Expert witness C. Paul Wazzan calculated the damages based on Musk's $38 million seed donation and other contributions.
- Wazzan's analysis determined potential wrongful gains of $65.5 billion to $109.4 billion for OpenAI and $13.3 billion to $25.1 billion for Microsoft.
- Musk's legal team argues for compensation as an early investor with potentially massive returns.
- The scale of the damages demand is seen as relatively modest compared to Musk's $700 billion personal fortune.
- OpenAI reportedly warned investors that Musk would make 'deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims'.
- The case is scheduled to go to trial in Oakland, California, in April.