Four years after buying the so-called most expensive home listing in San Francisco history, billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sued the developers of his US$27 million mansion, alleging developers and contractors colluded on a cost-cutting scheme “plagued by shoddy construction.”
Key Takeaways
- The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court by plaintiff 950 Lombard LLC, a limited liability company the San Francisco Standard tied to Sam Altman.
- Plaintiffs in the suit claim developers and contractors “conspired together, building upon each other’s wrongdoing,” rushing the property to market and misrepresenting its condition all to “cover the financial holes left by a business model infected with systemic embezzlement.”
- Specifically, plaintiffs claim developers “skimped on competent or qualified construction managers, designers, and contractors,” including by hiring a first-time construction manager, and failed to pay contractors on time, resulting in those contractors’ retaliatory efforts in a “campaign of sabotage.”
- Plaintiffs sued those developers for negligence, breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, unfair competition and fraudulent inducement.
- Among the complaints listed in the suit were the property’s faulty waterproofing system, “widespread defective construction,” and poor irrigation, drainage systems plumbing that have in the past few years led to raw sewage being dumped in a “hard to access area” alongside the house.
Key Background
The 9,500-square-foot four-story house was built in 2018, features floor-to-ceiling glass doors, an open patio, interior elevator, historic olive trees and a hillside infinity pool with “sweeping views from downtown San Francisco to Alcatraz,” according to the suit. The property also boasts 15 rooms, including six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, all on a third of an acre property overlooking the city and the San Francisco Bay.
The parcel includes the addresses 948 Lombard Street and 841 Chestnut Street, which combined boast an assessed land value of nearly $19.3 million and an additional structure value of over $9.64 million, according to San Francisco’s assessor records. According to city records, the property was last sold in March 2020 for $27 million—the same time plaintiffs in the suit said the property was purchased.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Altman’s net worth stands at $1 billion, making him the world’s 2,736th richest person.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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