The University of Michigan may have landed the steal of the AI era
Business Insider • • business
Key Points:
- The University of Michigan invested $20 million in one of OpenAI's earliest fundraising rounds, well before major investments like Microsoft's $1 billion in 2019 and the launch of ChatGPT.
- The university set a "target redemption amount" of $2 billion, indicating its goal to earn a substantial return from its early stake in OpenAI.
- Early investors in this round, including Khosla Ventures and Reid Hoffman's Aphorism Foundation, are prioritized over Microsoft in OpenAI's payout order, with their returns adjusted for inflation.
- The university's large endowment, valued at $21.2 billion, commonly invests in venture capital, but a direct stake in a company like OpenAI is less common and potentially highly lucrative.
- This investment highlights the potential for educational institutions to profit significantly from early tech investments, similar to other notable cases like a Catholic high school's $24 billion gain from Snap's IPO.
