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

Elon Musk wants a jaw-dropping $79 billion to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming the AI company defrauded him by jettisoning its nonprofit mission, Bloomberg first reported. The figure comes from expert witness C. Paul Wazzan, a financial economist whose bio says he has been deposed nearly 100 times and testified at trial more than a dozen times in complex commercial litigation cases.

Wazzan, who specializes in valuation and damages calculations in high-stakes disputes, determined that Musk is entitled to a hefty portion of OpenAI’s current $500 billion valuation based on his $38 million seed donation when he co-founded the startup in 2015. (If you’re wondering, that would mean a 3,500 fold return on Musk’s investment.)

Wazzan’s analysis combines Musk’s initial financial contributions with the technical know how and business contributions he offered to OpenAI’s early team, calculating wrongful gains of $65.5 billion to $109.4 billion for OpenAI and $13.3 billion to $25.1 billion for Microsoft, which today owns a 27% chunk of the company.

Musk’s legal team argues he should be compensated as an early startup investor who sees returns “many orders of magnitude greater” than his initial investment. But the sheer scale of the damages demand underscores that this legal battle isn’t really about the money.

Musk’s personal fortune currently hovers around $700 billion, making him by far the world’s richest person. As Reuters recently noted, his wealth now exceeds that of Google co founder Larry Page, the world’s second richest person, by a stunning $500 billion, according to Forbes’ billionaires list. In November, Tesla shareholders separately approved a $1 trillion pay package for Musk, the largest corporate pay package in history.

Against this backdrop, even a $134 billion payout from OpenAI would represent a relatively modest addition to Musk’s wealth, likely reinforcing for those at OpenAI their characterization of the lawsuit as part of an “ongoing pattern of harassment” rather than a legitimate financial grievance. OpenAI already reportedly sent a letter Thursday to investors and others of its business partners, warning that Musk will make “deliberately outlandish, attention grabbing claims” as his lawsuit against the company heads to trial in April. The case will be heard in Oakland, California, about 15 miles east of San Francisco.

What makes the case unusual is not just the size of the claim, but the way it reframes OpenAI’s evolution. Musk’s lawsuit centers on the argument that OpenAI strayed from its original nonprofit purpose and transformed into a profit driven entity that benefits a narrow group of partners. From his perspective, this shift undermines the principles he supported when the organization was formed.

Legal experts say cases like this are rare because they mix nonprofit intent, startup culture, and modern AI economics. Unlike traditional shareholder disputes, this case asks the court to consider moral and mission based commitments alongside financial ones. That makes the outcome harder to predict and raises questions about how future nonprofit tech ventures will be structured.

Microsoft’s role adds another layer of tension. As a major investor and strategic partner, the company has benefited directly from OpenAI’s growth and commercial success. Any ruling that assigns damages linked to Microsoft’s ownership stake could ripple across the tech sector and make large corporations more cautious when partnering with mission driven startups.

For OpenAI, the lawsuit arrives at a sensitive time. The company is already under global scrutiny from regulators, researchers, and governments concerned about AI safety, power concentration, and transparency. A prolonged court battle with one of its founders risks distracting leadership and shaping public perception in ways that extend far beyond the courtroom.

Regardless of the verdict, the case highlights a deeper conflict about control, values, and influence in the AI race. As artificial intelligence becomes more central to the global economy, disputes like this may become more common. Founders, investors, and partners are learning that early promises can carry consequences years later, especially when billions of dollars are at stake.

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Elon Musk

OpenAI

Microsoft

AI lawsuit

Tech billionaires

Startup disputes

Artificial intelligence

Corporate governance

Nonprofit ethics