Elon Musk makes laughably serious hostile bid to buy OpenAI for $97 Billion
Elon Musk has a beef with Sam Altman and OpenAI, and now he wants to buy the company ... or does he just want to slow them down enough to catch them?
Key takeaways
- While Emanuel Capital Management has a slimmer public profile, the others are firmly in Musk’s orbit.
- Baron Capital Group, which manages multiple mutual funds, was founded by Ron Baron.
- Eight Partners VC is better known as Joe Lonsdale’s firm 8VC, according to public filings.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2025) 'Elon Musk makes laughably serious hostile bid to buy OpenAI for $97 Billion', 311 Institute, 23 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/elon-musk-makes-laughably-serious-hostile-bid-to-buy-openai-for-97-billion/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
As if Elon Musk doesn’t have enough going on, a consortium of investors led by him announced plans Monday for what appears to be a hostile takeover of OpenAI. The investor group offered nearly $97.4 billion – which would make it one of the biggest M&A deals in history - to buy all of OpenAI’s assets and is “prepared to consider matching or exceeding higher bids,” it said in a press release sent to reporters.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman isn’t having it. He immediately replied on X, “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” and said that Musk was simply “trying to slow OpenAI down.”
The consortium includes Baron Capital Group, Valor Management, Atreides Management, Vy Fund III, Emmanuel Capital Management, and Eight Partners. While Emanuel Capital Management has a slimmer public profile, the others are firmly in Musk’s orbit.
Baron Capital Group, which manages multiple mutual funds, was founded by Ron Baron. The firm’s Baron Partners Fund, which he manages with his son Michael Baron, has large stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.
Atreides Management is associated with Boston-based hedge fund Atreides. As we previously reported, founder Gavin Baker spent 18 years at Fidelity where he made his first investment in SpaceX. Atreides has also invested in Tesla and Baker was a public supporter of Musk’s enormous Tesla pay package.
Valor Management was founded by Antonio Gracias, an early SpaceX investor and former Tesla board member. He was also an investor in Musk’s SolarCity before Tesla acquired it.
Vy Capital, founded by Alexander Tamas, also has a SpaceX stake and has invested in a number of other Musk companies like The Boring Company and Neuralink.
Eight Partners VC is better known as Joe Lonsdale’s firm 8VC, according to public filings. Lonsdale is a vocal fan of Musk and runs in similar circles. He recently appeared on CNBC calling himself “a huge fan” of Musk’s DOGE, an interview that Musk reposted on X.
It’s not yet clear how serious this group is. One plausible analysis floating around the internet is that this is as much trolling as offer. Some say this is Musk’s attempt to drive up the price that Altman’s team would have to pay to buy OpenAI’s underlying assets in order to restructure it from its original non-profit status.
Musk was part of the founding of OpenAI as a nonprofit AI research organization and Musk has been attempting to halt Altman’s restructuring plans.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Elon Musk has a beef with Sam Altman and OpenAI, and now he wants to buy the company ... or does he just want to slow them down enough to catch them?
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- replied on X x.com
- Baron Partners Fund, baroncapitalgroup.com
- Eight partners vc llc aum13f.com
- reposted on X. x.com
- around the internet x.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 23 February 2025. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2025). Elon Musk makes laughably serious hostile bid to buy OpenAI for $97 Billion. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/elon-musk-makes-laughably-serious-hostile-bid-to-buy-openai-for-97-billion/
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