Meet Sam Altman's family

• Sam Altman isn't the only member of his family involved in tech.

• The OpenAI CEO's brothers are both involved in the startup and investing world.

• Other members of the Altman family, like his sister and his husband, are more low profile.

Sam Altman is quickly becoming a household name — he was well-known in the startup world well before ChatGPT, but the AI chatbot launched him into the mainstream.

Whether it's his unceremonious firing and quick return to OpenAI, or his long-running spat with fellow cofounder-turned-rival Elon Musk, the tech CEO has been impossible to ignore. Altman made headlines again this week when Forbes reported he is now a billionaire.

His family, on the other hand, isn't as well-known — even though, in many cases, they have several notable accomplishments of their own.

Some members of the Altman clan are, like Sam, deeply involved in the tech startup world. Others have held jobs in real estate and yoga, but that doesn't mean their personal details are any less colorful.

Here's a look at Sam Altman's immediate family.

Jack Altman is a founder and VC

Sam isn't the only Altman active in the startup world. Jack Altman followed in the footsteps of his elder brother, who founded Loopt as a college sophomore, when he founded Lattice in September 2015.

Lattice, which develops human resources software to help monitor employee performance, has seen substantial growth over the past few years, in part thanks to the remote work boom brought on by the pandemic.

Jack Altman also made headlines in 2020, when his company pledged to fund employees leaving Lattice to create their own startups.

The younger Altman's résumé also includes roles at Hydrazine Capital and Altman Capital — both Altman family interests — as well as a stint as vice president of business development at Teespring, according to his LinkedIn. Jack Altman graduated from Princeton with an economics degree in 2011.

He stepped down as Lattice's CEO at the beginning of the year, but that doesn't mean he's withdrawing from the public sphere. Jack Altman previously told BI that he hopes to build another company from the ground up. "I love early stage — it's always what I've loved," he said.

Max Altman worked at Microsoft and is also a VC

Max is a general partner at Altman Capital, and is deeply involved in the startup scene.

The Altmans founded Apollo Projects in 2020 as a venture capital firm dedicated to "moonshot" startups — i.e. those working on initiatives with transformative potential for climate change, health, etc. And while it was envisioned as a family affair, Max Altman was charged with the day-to-day operations.

"My goal is to be a facilitator that sets people up for success," he told BI at the time.

Max Altman has spent time at Zenefits, a San Francisco insurance software firm, and at Microsoft. He also spent some time as a scuba diving instructor, where he said he saw firsthand the damage wrought on aquatic ecosystems by the climate crisis.

Most recently, Max was reportedly raising $200 million for a new seed-stage startup fund.

"I think Sam likes having his brothers around because they knew him when, and can give him pushback in ways that other people can't," their mother, Connie, told the New Yorker. "But it's tricky, with the power dynamic, and I want it to end before it explodes."

He has a sister, Annie Altman

Annie Altman, unlike her older brothers, is relatively removed from the public spotlight.

Her career path hasn't followed the same track as her siblings. Graduating from Tufts University in 2015 with a degree in biopsychology, Annie told BI that she now works as an artist and entertainer. She said she's worked at a dispensary, as a certified yoga instructor, and has supported herself with in-person and virtual sex work.

She also hosts a podcast called "All Human Are Human," welcoming her three brothers onto the show in a December 2018 episode.

The youngest Altman sibling said that a lengthy stretch of illnesses has left her in a difficult financial situation. She lives off-and-on in Hawaii, where her brother Sam owns property, but said she has not spoken with him since 2021.

Though they grew up close, Annie is estranged from her oldest brother — and noticeably absent from the family's public life.

She doesn't appear to be a big fan of the tech scene — even posting a "Hey There Delilah" parody song called "Hey Sad Scared Tech Bros" earlier this year. "I would love to see and support technology being used to equitably distribute basic human resources," she wrote on her blog, "which is far different from its current use."

Altman's mother is a dermatologist

Sam Altman's father, Jerry Altman, passed away in May 2018; his mother, Connie Gibstine, is still alive.

The Altman patriarch worked as a real estate broker, according to a report by New York magazine; his daughter told BI that, up until his death, he was involved in affordable housing and historic preservation efforts in St. Louis.

Sam Altman has been candid about his father's passing. He once compared it to his firing from OpenAI last year, in that the news had taken him completely by surprise — though he acknowledged that his father's death was a "much worse" experience.

"I had to pick up the pieces of his life for a little while," Altman said. "And it wasn't until like a week after that, that I really got a moment to just catch my breath and be like, holy shit, I can't believe this happened."

Gibstine, Altman's mother, is a dermatologist. According to a 2016 report in the New Yorker, she still gets calls from Sam whenever he gets headaches, fearing the worst. "I have to reassure him that he doesn't have meningitis or lymphoma, that it's just stress," she said at the time.

Sam Altman recently married Oliver Mulherin

Sam Altman has kept his relationship with his husband relatively low profile, but they made headlines last year when they reportedly tied the knot in a private ceremony.

Mulherin, or "Ollie", as Altman calls him, is originally from Melbourne, Australia, according to New York Magazine. He's a software engineer who most recently worked at Meta, according to his LinkedIn.

Altman and Mulherin live together in San Francisco. They've been spotted at a few public appearances, including a White House dinner.

The pair haven't made many public appearances together, but reportedly want to have children soon.

In a recent interview, Altman described the couple's married life as "actually great."

"I was expecting it not to feel any different or better; however, it does feel different and feels better," he said. "I'm very happy."

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