There may be no more important business leader today than OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Altman's company sparked the artificial intelligence (AI) boom with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, and has remained at the forefront of generative artificial intelligence ever since.
has received an estimated $13 billion in investment from microsoft And we've forged deep partnerships with tech giants to power AI in products like Azure, Github, and Office. In addition to ChatGPT, OpenAI continues to excel with its own products such as Dall-E, a text-to-image generator, and Sora, a text-to-video generator.
Before serving as CEO of OpenAI, Altman led Silicon Valley startup incubator Y Combinator, where he made numerous successful startup investments through various funds that helped him become a billionaire. Keep reading to see Altman's top four stocks he's invested in.
1. Reddit
Perhaps Altman's best-known investments include: reddit (New York Stock Exchange: RDDT). The social media company disclosed that Mr. Altman is the lead investor in the initial public offering (IPO) paperwork. Following its post-IPO popularity on Reddit, his stock was estimated to be worth $600 million.
Altman is no stranger to Reddit. He previously served on the company's board of directors and for eight days served as its CEO. He also said when he announced his investment in Reddit in 2014 that he had been using Reddit daily for the past nine years and had gotten to know Reddit's founders at Y Combinator.
OpenAI also uses Reddit content to train its AI models, and Reddit has been touting the potential of AI, believing it has a competitive advantage in AI training data.
Altman clearly knows the company well, and so far his investments have paid off.
2. Airbnb
altman is a friend airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) CEO Brian Chesky. The two have discussed various initiatives in the past, and Chesky defended Altman when he was temporarily removed as OpenAI's CEO.
Altman invested $100,000 in Airbnb in 2008, when the company was in its early stages of short-term rental business.
The current status of Altman's investment is unknown, but even if he sells it, the OpenAI CEO still has a significant return on his investment. Airbnb continues to grow its revenue and generate a wide range of operating margins, which is a sign of its competitive advantage.
Airbnb currently has a market capitalization of $106.8 billion, making it the clear leader in the market.
3. Uber
Altman also Uber (New York Stock Exchange: Uber)invested $100,000 in a ride-sharing app and recognized the potential of the app-based transportation market.
Altman argued in a 2014 blog post that Uber is undervalued because it often offers a more affordable alternative to car ownership.
He also frequently uses Uber, showing that he's a fan of both the product and the business.
Similar to Airbnb, our early investment in Uber paid off in a big way. The company currently has a market capitalization of $162 billion and dominates the global ride-sharing industry.
4. Asana
It's clear that Altman is a fan of marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber; instacart and door dashbut the head of OpenAI has made several investments in software companies, including: Asana (New York Stock Exchange: Asan)specializing in collaboration and project management tools.
Altman was the lead investor in Asana's $50 million Series C round in March 2016 and also participated in a follow-up $75 million investment round in January 2018.
At the time of his initial investment, Altman claimed that Asana solved many of the communication problems in business, such as giving clear tasks and goals and measuring clearly and often. He also predicted that Asana could one day dramatically improve productivity for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Asana has been a disappointing public company so far, currently trading below its IPO price of $27.
Which Altman stock is the best buy right now?
Of the four stocks listed above, Airbnb appears to be the best for long-term gains. The company continues to see steady growth in its core travel business. Its profits are strong and growing, and the travel expert has been responding to customer complaints about things like cleaning fees and chore lists to strengthen the platform.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky also hinted at new products, saying the company could move beyond its core and bring new revenue streams to Airbnb.
Uber has also enjoyed a remarkable resurgence over the past two years, benefiting from cost cuts and the reopening of the economy.
Asana remains unprofitable, its stock price underperforms, and Reddit could heat up after a promising IPO.
Even OpenAI's CEO isn't always right, but he recognized the potential of new marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber more than a decade ago. Today, they remain a good business.
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Jeremy Bowman has a position at Airbnb. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Airbnb, Asana, DoorDash, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
OpenAI billionaire Sam Altman has invested in these four tech stocks. Which is the best value to buy now?Originally published by The Motley Fool
