While Altman’s salary is modest, other OpenAI employees are reaping the rewards of their company’s success. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s former chief scientist who stepped away from the company earlier this year, received $322,201 in compensation last year, according to OpenAI’s tax filing.

Sam Altman, the cofounder and CEO of artificial intelligence market leader OpenAI, was reportedly paid just $76,001 in 2023. It might seem like a shockingly low number, but it’s also not entirely unexpected.