OpenAI has lost four senior executives in recent weeks, including the head of data centers, as the company prepares for a planned initial public offering in 2027. Chris Malone, who joined in March 2025 after the announcement of the Stargate data-center initiative, departed last week, according to multiple reports.
Denise Dresser, chief revenue officer; Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer; and Fidji Simo, second-in-command to CEO Sam Altman, have also exited the company. The departures follow a reorganization of OpenAI’s infrastructure division in early 2026 and the elevation of Uday Ruddarraju to chief technology officer of computing capacity in July 2026.
OpenAI’s computing power spending has surged to an estimated $750 billion through 2030, up from a prior projection of $600 billion. The company signed a 10-gigawatt data-center lease in Ohio with SoftBank’s SB Energy this month, with Nvidia providing up to $105 billion in support for the project. The first phase of the Ohio campus is expected to come online in 2028.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, told CNBC that leadership continuity remains intact despite the executive departures. “I'm a constant, Sam [Altman] is a constant,” Brockman said.
The executive exits coincide with OpenAI’s aggressive expansion in data-center infrastructure, a critical component of its long-term growth strategy ahead of a potential public listing.
