Knowingo
The cover of The Optimist

The Optimist

Keach Hagey

How Sam Altman went from a St. Louis childhood and Y Combinator to building OpenAI, and why his board briefly fired him in 2023 over trust.

Get the app Read on the web

19 parts, about 33 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Follow one founder from a location app startup through Y Combinator to the creation of OpenAI
  • See how OpenAI added a capped profit arm under its nonprofit board, and the board crisis that fired and then restored its chief
  • Weigh a portrait, drawn from many interviews, of a gifted dealmaker who loves speed but whose shifting accounts and conflict avoidance strained trust

Who it is for

  • Readers following who runs the companies building artificial intelligence
  • Founders and investors studying how startups are funded and scaled
  • Readers curious how a nonprofit board governs a powerful AI company

What the summary covers

  1. Prologue3 min
  2. Chicago1 min
  3. St. Louis1 min
  4. "Where Are You?"1 min
  5. Among the "Nerd's Nerds"1 min
  6. "Stopping Out"1 min
  7. "Where You At?"1 min
  8. From "Weak" to "Cool"1 min
  9. The Douchebag Badge2 min
  10. A Ride on a Rocket2 min
  11. Sam Altman for President2 min
  12. A Manhattan Project for AI2 min
  13. Altruists2 min
  14. Pivoting to Profit3 min
  15. Products2 min
  16. ChatGPT2 min
  17. The Blip3 min
  18. Prometheus Unbound2 min
  19. Epilogue: "I'm More Excited Than I Have Ever Been About Anything."1 min

Recommended by

  • Steve CollPulitzer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars
    The Optimist is a wonder of fair-minded investigation and page-turning storytelling.
  • Michael WolffBestselling author of Fire and Fury
    Keach Hagey is one of the best writers about media and tech. Here she tells the story of Sam Altman and the AI revolution. And a fantastic story it is, not only because it affects all of our lives and futures, but because it is told so well.
  • Mark BergenAuthor of Like, Comment, Subscribe
    Sam Altman is a pure creation of Silicon Valley. And Keach Hagey artfully captures how the place thinks, operates, and amasses power. A deft biography from a relentless investigative reporter who leaves no stone unturned.
  • Christine Lagorio ChafkinAuthor of We Are The Nerds
    Deeply reported and gripping, Keach Hagey’s book is packed with insight into Sam Altman’s sometimes mystifying decisions, why investors seem mesmerized by him, and previously unreported revelations about his firing from OpenAI.

About the author

  • Keach HageyWall Street Journal reporter who covers media and technology
    • She grew up in Evansville, Indiana, and studied English and French at Stanford, where she also took a master's in English literature.
    • Her first newspaper job was at the Queens Chronicle.
    • Before the Journal she covered media for Politico, The National in Abu Dhabi, CBSNews.com and the Village Voice.
    • She is a media reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where she has also covered OpenAI.
    • She was part of the Journal team that won a 2016 Best in Business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for coverage of the Viacom power struggle.
    • She was part of a Journal team that won the George Polk Award and the Gerald Loeb Award.
    • Her first book, in 2018, was about Sumner Redstone and the fight over Viacom and CBS.
    • In 2025 she published The Optimist, a biography of Sam Altman and OpenAI.

More books like this