Elon Musk is seeking between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the AI firm committed fraud by abandoning its original nonprofit purpose. This substantial figure originates from financial economist C. Paul Wazzan, an expert witness with extensive experience in complex commercial litigation, having been deposed nearly 100 times and testified at trial over a dozen occasions.

Specializing in valuation and damages within high-stakes disputes, Wazzan concluded that Musk deserves a significant share of OpenAI’s current $500 billion valuation. This assessment is based on Musk’s $38 million seed donation when he co-founded the startup in 2015, which would translate to an extraordinary 3,500-fold return on his initial investment.

The analysis incorporates both Musk’s early financial support and the technical expertise and business contributions he provided to OpenAI’s founding team. It calculates wrongful gains ranging from $65.5 billion to $109.4 billion for OpenAI and from $13.3 billion to $25.1 billion for Microsoft, which presently holds a 27% stake in the company.

Musk’s legal representatives contend he should be compensated as an early startup investor entitled to returns vastly exceeding his original contribution. However, the enormous scale of the damages claim highlights that this lawsuit transcends financial matters. Musk’s personal wealth is approximately $700 billion, securing his position as the world’s wealthiest individual by a considerable margin.

According to Forbes’ billionaires list, his fortune now surpasses that of Google co-founder Larry Page, the second-richest person, by a remarkable$500 billion. In a separate development, Tesla shareholders approved a historic $1 trillion compensation package for Musk in November, the largest corporate pay package ever recorded.

Given this context, even a maximum $134 billion award from OpenAI would represent a relatively minor increase to Musk’s existing wealth. This likely reinforces OpenAI’s perspective that the lawsuit constitutes part of an “ongoing pattern of harassment” rather than a genuine financial dispute.

OpenAI has reportedly alerted investors and business partners in a recent letter, cautioning that Musk will advance “deliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims” as the lawsuit progresses toward trial. The case is scheduled to be heard in Oakland, California, located about 15 miles east of San Francisco, this April.