OpenAI Appoints BlackRock Executive Adebayo Ogunlesi to Board Amid Restructuring

OpenAI Appoints BlackRock Executive Ogunlesi to Board

OpenAI has appointed BlackRock Inc. executive Adebayo Ogunlesi to its board of directors, drawing on his experience investing in infrastructure as the startup pushes for more data centers and energy resources to support the development of artificial intelligence. Ogunlesi, a senior managing director and board member at BlackRock, joined the asset management firm last year after it acquired his company, Global Infrastructure Partners, for roughly $12 billion -- a deal that made him a billionaire. OpenAI said Tuesday that Ogunlesi's advice "will be invaluable as we navigate the global transformation of AI infrastructure, drive innovation, and foster economic growth." OpenAI's team has spent much of the past year urging the public and private sectors to support costly infrastructure projects that the ChatGPT maker believes are necessary to build more advanced AI systems. On Monday, OpenAI released a sweeping "economic blueprint" for AI, which reiterated the need for these investments to keep the US ahead of China. The San Francisco-based startup has gradually overhauled and expanded its board in the year-plus since Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman was briefly ousted. With the addition of Ogunlesi, OpenAI's board now has 10 directors, including Altman, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo and retired US Army General Paul Nakasone. Ogunlesi is also joining at a pivotal moment for the company. OpenAI has previously said its board is evaluating a plan to restructure from a nonprofit research organization into a public benefit corporation. The change would be attractive to investors, but requires cooperation and coordination between the company's board, investors and various regulators.

OpenAI adds BlackRock exec Adebayo Ogunlesi to board of directors

Bayo Ogunlesi, Chairman, Global Infrastructure Partners listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a strategic and policy discussion with CEOs in the State Department Library in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 11, 2017 in Washington, DC. OpenAI said Tuesday that Adebayo Ogunlesi, a senior managing director at BlackRock, is joining the startup's board of directors, the latest announcement in the company's move toward a for-profit structure. Ogunlesi is a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investing firm that was acquired by BlackRock last year for $12 billion. Before helping to start GIP in 2006, Ogunlesi spent 23 years at Credit Suisse. "The rapid advancement and development of AI offers a unique opportunity to build a better future," Ogunlesi said in OpenAI's announcement Tuesday. "As part of this, thoughtful strategies and investment in infrastructure will be key to unlocking AI's full potential and delivering its benefits responsibly. I'm excited to contribute to this effort and look forward to being a part of the OpenAI Board." For OpenAI, the addition of Ogunlesi to its board marks another step in its dramatic transformation to a for-profit company. The board has been almost entirely revamped since late 2023, when CEO Sam Altman was abruptly ousted before being quickly reinstated. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who was chairman at Twitter before its purchase by Elon Musk, became chair of OpenAI after the Altman ordeal in November 2023. Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, joined at the same time. Last year, the board added several new faces including Instacart CEO Fidji Simo and Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, now known as the Gates Foundation. OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit in 2015, said in late December that it will create a public benefit corporation to oversee commercial operations, removing some of its nonprofit restrictions and allowing it to function more like a high-growth startup. Last year, OpenAI was valued at $157 billion as it continued rolling out updated large language models and new tools after kicking off the generative artificial intelligence boom in late 2022. The company said that by transforming into a Delaware PBC "with ordinary shares of stock," it can pursue commercial operations while separately hiring a staff for its nonprofit arm and allowing that wing to take on charitable activities in health care, education and science, OpenAI said in December. Musk, one of OpenAI's co-founders is suing to try and stop OpenAI from converting into a full for-profit business. Ogunlesi's other board positions include BlackRock, Topgolf Callaway Brands, Kosmos Energy Holdings and Terminal Investment Ltd.

OpenAI adds BlackRock executive to its board.

OpenAI has appointed Adebayo "Bayo" Ogunlesi to its board of directors. Ogunlesi is chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (an investment fund) and a senior managing director at BlackRock. The appointment of Ogunlesi comes as the AI company weighs a shift from nonprofit to for-profit status. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor hinted at his expertise here: "Bayo has an exceptional track record of driving success in organizations with global reach, expertly navigating complex and dynamic commercial landscapes."

OpenAI appoints GIP's Adebayo Ogunlesi to board

Cristina Criddle in San Francisco and Antoine Gara in New York OpenAI has appointed billionaire investor and one of Wall Street's most powerful dealmakers Adebayo Ogunlesi to its board, as the artificial intelligence start-up pushes forward with moves to become a for-profit company amid rising competition from rivals. Ogunlesi, co-founder of Global Infrastructure Partners, is known on Wall Street as a skilled investor who has counselled some of the world's most influential companies, often at critical junctures. His appointment comes as San Francisco-based OpenAI is going though a huge corporate restructuring and expansion, as the start-up looks to supercharge its next phase of growth amid tougher competition. Ogunlesi, who sold GIP to BlackRock for $12.5bn last year, is the latest hire to the ChatGPT maker's board, which was restructured following Sam Altman's ousting by the company's board and his subsequent reinstatement as chief executive in November 2023. Altman regained his board seat last March following an independent review, alongside chair Bret Taylor, former chief executive of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, former US secretary of the Treasury. Taylor said Ogunlesi had an "exceptional track record of driving success in organisations with global reach, expertly navigating complex and dynamic commercial landscapes". Ogunlesi has been a longtime informal adviser to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as well as energy companies such as Hess. He also acted as the lead independent director of investment bank Goldman Sachs as it dealt with a litany of regulatory and legal issues following the 2008 financial crisis. In October, Ogunlesi launched a joint GIP BlackRock $30bn fund with backing from Microsoft, Nvidia and Abu Dhabi to build data centres and adjacent power infrastructure, putting him at the forefront of the massive infrastructure investment required to handle the explosion of AI. Ogunlesi said he looked forward to contributing to OpenAI's efforts to use AI to "build a better future". "[Thoughtful] strategies and investment in infrastructure will be key to unlocking AI's full potential and delivering its benefits responsibly," he said in an OpenAI blog post announcing his board appointment. OpenAI, which was recently valued at $150bn, is in the process of becoming a public benefit corporation, a for-profit entity with a more traditional compensation structure for investors while retaining a commitment to bettering society. The AI start-up said in December that its conversion into a for-profit entity would "result in one of the best resourced non-profits in history" and multiply the donations given by investors "manyfold". But the move has received strong criticism from rivals, including Elon Musk, an early backer and co-founder of OpenAI. Last week, a lawyer for Musk called on the California and Delaware attorneys-general to force OpenAI to auction off a large stake in its business, the latest salvo in the legal battle over its restructuring as a for-profit company. Kathleen Jennings, attorney-general in Delaware -- where OpenAI is incorporated -- has asked OpenAI for more information about the conversion plans and said her office is responsible for ensuring it is in the public interest. Ogunlesi will join recent board members, including Dr Sue Desmond-Hellman, former chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, former Sony president; and Fidji Simo, chief executive of Instacart.

OpenAI appoints BlackRock exec to its board | TechCrunch

OpenAI has appointed an executive at investment firm BlackRock to its board of directors. Adebayo "Bayo" Ogunlesi, a senior managing director at BlackRock and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investing platform, has joined OpenAI's board, OpenAI announced on Tuesday. In a statement, OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor said that Ogunlesi has "an exceptional track record of driving success in organizations with global reach, expertly navigating complex, and dynamic commercial landscapes." Ogunlesi spent 23 years at financial services company Credit Suisse, where he held several positions, including executive vice chairman of Credit Suisse's investment banking division. Previously, Ogunlesi was an attorney with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and served as a law clerk to Thurgood Marshall, the nation's first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Ogunlesi also sits on the boards of BlackRock, Topgolf Callaway Brands, Kosmos Energy Holdings, and Terminal Investment Limited. "The rapid advancement and development of AI offers a unique opportunity to build a better future. As part of this, thoughtful strategies and investment in infrastructure will be key to unlocking AI's full potential and delivering its benefits responsibly," Ogunlesi said in a press release. "I'm excited to contribute to this effort and look forward to being a part of the OpenAI board." OpenAI's current board bares little resemblance to its board in late 2023, the members of which fired CEO Sam Altman only to reinstate him days later. As a condition for returning, Altman demanded a remade board -- and he eventually got his wish. OpenAI's board today includes Taylor, Altman, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former NSA director Paul M. Nakasone, former Sony Corporation of America President Nicole Seligman, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, economist Larry Summers, and Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Zico Kolter. D'Angelo is the sole holdover from the previous board.

Private equity investor Adebayo Ogunlesi joins OpenAI's board

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Tuesday private equity veteran Adebayo Ogunlesi, who is currently the CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), has joined its board. Ogunlesi, 71, will be advising OpenAI on securing access to the infrastructure necessary for advancing its artificial intelligence development, OpenAI said in a statement. Founded in 2006, GIP is a PE firm specializing in infrastructure that manages more than $100 billion in assets and has a portfolio including Britain's Gatwick airport, the Port of Melbourne and major offshore wind projects. BlackRock purchased GIP last year for $12.5 billion. AI infrastructure has been front-and-center in the AI race, as technology companies' ability to advance their AI is directly dependent on their ability to shore up enormous compute infrastructure, via specialized data centers that link thousands of chips together in clusters. In 2025 alone, big tech firms including Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Apple are projected to spend over $200 billion on capex - almost double of what they shelled out in 2021, the year before OpenAI's generative AI chatbot ChatGPT debuted. In recent months, OpenAI has been pushing the U.S. government to adopt supportive regulation that will enable the U.S. to stay ahead of China in the race for the nascent technology. "There's an estimated $175 billion sitting in global funds awaiting investment in AI projects, and if the U.S. doesn't attract those funds, they will flow to China-backed projects--strengthening the Chinese Communist Party's global influence," the company wrote on Monday in a set of policy proposals. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Rashmi Aich)