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0 pointsbrandon2721y ago0 comments

> Almost the entire company was threatening to quit.

This is the part that perplexes me. A CEO being fired is not an unusual occurrence. What about Sam Altman led such a huge number of employees to threaten to follow him out the door? Was it that the board's actions were viewed as internally unjust? Was it Altman's power of persuasion? Was/is Altman viewed by the staff as bringing something irreplaceable to the table in terms of talent, skill or ability?

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jcranmer1y ago

> What about Sam Altman led such a huge number of employees to threaten to follow him out the door?

My understanding is that a fair amount of it was essentially peer pressure. If you're an employee whose CEO has just been fired for unclear reasons, and someone hands you a chain letter saying "restate him or everyone will quit" and you're told everyone's signing that letter and there's already someone who promised to hire everyone who quits into their current role at equal pay, would you sign it?

tptacek1y ago

My understanding is that it was not so much peer pressure so much as an explicitly coordinated worker action, based on a rational assessment of what their comp packages would look like if the board's plan played out completely.

gorbypark1y ago

In my opinion this is most likely.

Scenario A, Sam Altman continues as CEO and the for profit arm of OpenAI continues to call the shots, growth and market share continue to be priority number one.

Scenario B, Sam Altman is fired, OpenAI non-profit board (re?)-asserts more control. Safety, alignment and other things like that take priority over growth and market share.

x% of Employees are Sam believers, and when the remaining x% of ambiguous/non-Sam believers realize the first x% might leave, their PSUs would be worth significantly less, so they sign the letter as well. There is also the peer pressure / fear of retribution factor as well once it becomes likely there is even a chance of Sam being reinstated.

Many employees choose scenario A because it is likely their "profit sharing units" will be worth more than with scenario B. There's a non-zero chance that OpenAI (the for profit arm) eventually joins the ranks of the "FAANG" companies. Those PSUs might be worth millions today, but in the future could be worth "fuck you" levels of money.

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blihp1y ago

I suspect it was all about the money. Those following him viewed him as their best bet for a good financial outcome for themselves.

Atotalnoob1y ago

It’s covered in the podcast that the article is about.

Summarizing, essentially the employees were under the impression either Sama comes back OR OpenAI dissolves and they lose their job.

insane_dreamer1y ago

It’s important to understand that the board oversaw the nonprofit, and their job essentially was to protect the nonprofits mission. Most of the employees were hired by the for-profit company whose mission it is to make money. In theory the for profit was owned and subservient to the non profit but the engineers financial future was tied to the for profit and thus their loyalty.

jonas211y ago

A CEO being fired, without explanation, at a company that is doing well is highly unusual.

CLiED1y ago

The equity offering was nearing and then the board just fired Altman out of nowhere and had no credible reasons or a narrative to sell to the employees, then they quickly caught on that their comp would go to smokes with this clueless lot at the helm who can't even justify a firing without making a pig's breakfast of the whole affair and demanded the reinstatement of the CEO for their pocket's sake, simple as that.

fifticon1y ago

I would argue it is a demonstration of what Altman is capable of bringing about. He can make things like this 'happen' for him. Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander, and now, our current batch.

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