Altman's Return To OpenAI Is A Strategic Victory For Microsoft

The software major has more control and bears less risk this way

- PARMY OLSON

Of all the stories of a hero's exile and return from wilderness, none has caused more whiplash than Sam Altman's. It took Steve Jobs a decade to return to Apple after being knifed by his board; Jack Dorsey took seven years to come back to Twitter, and an entire adolescence and early adulthood passed for Simba to be crowned the Lion King. Altman's round trip as CEO at OpenAI took fewer than five days. All of which is very, very good for Microsoft Corp.

After his shock termination last Friday, Altman returns to a startup with a clearer corporate direction. OpenAI's board, previously made up of three staff members and three independent directors with ties to the 'effective altruism' movement, and which had a fiduciary duty to humanity rather than investors, will now look much more like a typical tech company board. It'll have nine seats, at least one of which will likely go to Microsoft. The confirmed board members scream "safe pair of hands" to OpenAI's investors and customers. They include Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, a former US treasury secretary. The two have served on an array of corporate boards and are well-versed in serving the needs of investors like Microsoft.