Sam Altman’s Trying to Get His Tesla Roadster Deposit Back

Sam Altman wants his money back.

The OpenAI CEO made a post on X on Thursday, titled “A tale in three acts.” In his post, Altman shared a screenshot of an email from July 2018 confirming a $45,000 deposit for a second-generation Tesla Roadster.

He also attached screenshots of a follow-up email he sent on Thursday, asking to cancel the order and requesting a $50,000 refund, only for the email to bounce.

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman said in a follow-up post on Thursday.

Representatives for Altman and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

The new Roadster was one of Tesla’s most hyped unveilings.

In 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Roadster “will be the fastest production car ever made, period.”

“It will be the first time any car has broken two seconds at 0-60,” Musk said. “It will be the fastest to 100 mph: 4.2 seconds.”

Production for the new Roadster was originally set to begin in 2020, but has been repeatedly delayed.

Musk told investors during an earnings call in October 2024 that Tesla was finalizing the design of the Roadster, but the company was focused on its core mission of achieving a “sustainable energy future.”

“We are working on it, but it has to come behind things that have a more serious impact on the world. So, just thank you to all our long-suffering Tesla Roadster deposit holders,” Musk said.

At the time of publication, Musk and Tesla had not responded to Altman.

A continuation of the Altman-Musk feud

Altman’s subtle dig at Musk comes amid their legal battle over OpenAI, the company they cofounded together in 2015. Musk was one of OpenAI’s early financial backers but left the company’s board in 2018.

Since then, Musk has publicly criticized Altman’s leadership of OpenAI.

In February 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI. Musk accused OpenAI of violating its nonprofit mission when it partnered with Microsoft. He withdrew the lawsuit in June 2024, only to refile it in August of the same year.

Then, in November, Musk’s lawyers filed an injunction against OpenAI to halt its conversion to a for-profit company. A representative for OpenAI told Business Insider that Musk’s injunction was “utterly without merit.”

“For a long time, I looked up to him as an incredible hero, a great jewel for humanity. I have different feelings now,” Altman said of Musk during an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that aired on September 10.

“There are things about him that are incredible, and I’m grateful for a lot of things he’s done. There’s a lot of things about him that I think are traits I don’t admire,” Altman continued.

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it had completed its restructuring. As part of the changes, OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, OpenAI Foundation, will now oversee a new public benefit corporation, OpenAI Group PBC.

The company is looking to go public at a $1 trillion valuation, per Reuters.