OpenAI: Executive Departures and Reorganization Ahead of 2027 IPO

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Key Takeaways

1More than a dozen executives have left OpenAI since the beginning of the year

2The company has reorganized its infrastructure, now led by Sachin Katti, and key teams report to Greg Brockman

3OpenAI filed a confidential IPO application with the SEC in June, with the listing not expected before 2027

💡Why it matters — These governance and organizational changes come as OpenAI seeks to strengthen its structure ahead of an IPO in a context of intense competition and financial pressure.

More than a dozen executives have left OpenAI since January, including the head of data centers who departed last week. The company claims to have reorganized its infrastructure, while key teams now report to Greg Brockman. These changes come as the firm filed a confidential IPO application with the SEC in June, with a public offering not expected before 2027.

Confidential IPO in June, not expected before 2027

OpenAI announced in June that it had filed confidential IPO documents with the SEC. The market debut is not anticipated before 2027. Its competitor Anthropic is also planning an IPO and is reportedly profitable, while OpenAI is expected to see its losses increase alongside its revenue growth. On average, a company that files confidentially takes about five months to go public, with SpaceX having done so in less than two.

More than a dozen departures, including the head of data centers

Since the beginning of the year, more than a dozen executives have left OpenAI, including Sam Altman's chief deputy, the chief operating officer, a revenue director, a marketing director, and several team leads. Chris Malone, the head of data centers, left the company last week after joining in March 2025. Some resignations are linked to health issues, while others are due to a reorganization led by Sam Altman to cut costly side projects and focus on revenue-generating activities. This departure comes as OpenAI's investment in computing is presented as a differentiating asset against Anthropic or SpaceX.

Reorganization of infrastructure and new reporting structure

OpenAI attributes Chris Malone's departure to a restructuring of the infrastructure team. This team now reports to Vice President Sachin Katti, whereas Malone previously reported directly to President Greg Brockman. The company declined to comment on the existence of any broader changes. Currently, the infrastructure and product teams report to Greg Brockman. Thibault Sottiaux, who oversees API and application offerings, summarized the situation last week by stating that "everyone reports to Greg at the end of the day."

Brockman, between managerial withdrawal in 2019 and central return

Co-founder and president, Greg Brockman played a significant role in building OpenAI's initial infrastructure before being relieved of most of his managerial responsibilities in 2019 when Sam Altman took over as CEO. After a brief leave in 2024, he returned to a role to which key teams now report. According to Karen Hao, he had a destabilizing influence after 2019 and, while participating in projects such as GPT-4, contributed to fueling internal rivalries related to the "Blip" incident in 2023, which saw the board temporarily oust Sam Altman. Before joining OpenAI, he was primarily known for developing Stripe's business and, within OpenAI, for supporting commercialization initiatives.

Growing products and past executive recruitments

OpenAI highlights GPT-5.6 as its latest model, touted as one of the most powerful and efficient on the market. Its dedicated desktop application for agentic coding and professional tasks gained about 15 million subscribers in two months. In the past, the company recruited executives such as Fidji Simo and Kevin Weil, who have since left, from major tech firms. Sam Altman has also publicly mentioned a challenging past year and an internal reorganization.