But these days, Altman, 40, is slowing down — at least on the weekends — to focus on his family and expanding OpenAI.
Altman and his husband, Australian software engineer Oliver Mulherin, welcomed a son in February 2025. After a year of becoming a parent, he says the experience is “definitely undervalued.”
“This is by far my favorite thing in my life,” Altman told Forbes. “I don’t think I have anything profound or non-cliche to say about it, other than that I think it’s going to be great and much better than I thought it would be.”
Fatherhood brings many changes, including upending Ultraman’s disciplined daily routine. To maximize his productivity, he focused on sleep, exercise and nutrition and made time, he detailed in a 2018 report blog post. But now gone are the days of lifting weights and meditating three times a week.
“Now it’s all gone,” he said. “I just accepted that life was going to be chaotic in a few years.”
Altman has been a very outspoken advocate for prioritizing family and friends, saying neglecting loved ones in order to be productive is “a really stupid trade-off.” Parenthood has only heightened his sensitivity.
“The baseline that I have to surpass in order for me to be willing to take the time to do something is so great that most other things fall away,” he said.
How Sam Altman Achieves Work-Life Balance
During the pandemic, Altman purchased a $15.7 million ranch in Napa, California, where he spent weekends hiking with Mulherin and their son without cell service. The ranch grows wine grapes and raises cattle, although Altman has been a vegetarian since he was a child.
This week, business is back in San Francisco, where Altman is living in a $27 million home in Russian Hill. Being famous in the heart of Silicon Valley adds complex dynamics for parents. He said that while Altman was in the park with his son, he was stopped and offered business ideas, drawing unwanted attention.
“I ended up living in a weird insular world,” Altman said. “I fought with all my might… I think the more you let the world build a bubble around you, the crazier you become.”
Fame also began to limit Ultraman’s relationship with his son. He said he used to write letters to his son about work challenges but stopped when he realized the letters could be used as evidence in a lawsuit. OpenAI president Greg Brockman’s personal diary was released as part of Elon Musk’s lawsuit against the company.
Altman often thinks about how different his son’s world will be compared to when he was growing up in St. Louis.
“He will never grow up knowing that, outside of studying history, there is a world where every computer is no smarter than he is,” he said. “People are very adaptable, so this won’t seem weird. It will be very different.” Altman and Mulherin are expecting another child later this year.
“A lot of people say, ‘I’m glad you’re having a baby because I think you’re going to make better decisions for humanity as a whole,'” Altman told before Bloomberg. “I used to really want to do things well and do the best I could. I still want to do that now.”
Still, Altman said he’s not too concerned about how he’s remembered.
“If you’re dead and people remember you, your value is zero,” he said. “Maybe they’ll hear about me, maybe they won’t, but I’ll do something that improves other people’s lives, and I’ll feel like I’m useful.”