Musk wants up to $134B in OpenAI lawsuit, despite $700B fortune

Title: Elon Musk Seeks Multi-Billion Dollar Compensation in Legal Battle Against OpenAI and Microsoft

Elon Musk's Historic $79-$134 Billion Lawsuit Against OpenAI

In an unprecedented legal move, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is seeking a staggering $79-$134 billion in damages from AI company OpenAI and its major stakeholder, Microsoft. The lawsuit, which was first reported by Bloomberg, alleges that OpenAI defrauded Musk by abandoning its nonprofit mission.

Expert Witness Calculates Hefty Compensation for Elon Musk

The damages figure was determined by C. Paul Wazzan, a financial economist with extensive experience in complex commercial litigation cases. Wazzan's analysis suggests that Musk is entitled to a significant portion of OpenAI’s current $500 billion valuation due to his initial $38 million seed donation when he co-founded the startup in 2015. This translates to a mind-boggling 3,500-fold return on Musk's investment.

Breakdown of the Damages Demand

Wazzan's analysis calculates wrongful gains of $65.5 billion to $109.4 billion for OpenAI and $13.3 billion to $25.1 billion for Microsoft, which currently owns a 27% stake in the company. The breakdown is based on Musk's initial financial contributions as well as his technical know-how and business contributions to OpenAI's early team.

The Legal Battle: Beyond Financial Dispute

Musk's legal team argues that he should be compensated as an early startup investor who has seen returns "many orders of magnitude greater" than his initial investment. However, the sheer scale of the damages demand suggests that this legal battle is not merely a financial dispute.

Elon Musk's Unprecedented Wealth

With a personal fortune hovering around $700 billion, Musk is currently the world's richest person, far surpassing Google co-founder Larry Page by a staggering $500 billion. In November, Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Musk, making it the largest corporate pay package in history. Even if Musk were to receive the maximum demanded amount of $134 billion from OpenAI, it would still represent a relatively modest addition to his already astronomical wealth.

The Ongoing Legal Battle

OpenAI has reportedly characterized Musk's lawsuit as part of an "ongoing pattern of harassment" rather than a legitimate financial grievance. In response, OpenAI sent a letter to investors and business partners threatening that Musk will make "deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims" during the trial scheduled for April in Oakland, California. This high-stakes legal battle is expected to shed light on the inner workings of one of the most influential AI companies in the world and could potentially reshape the landscape of tech entrepreneurship. Stay tuned for updates as this story unfolds.