Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI’s no. 2 role
OpenAI's No. 2 executive, Fidji Simo, is stepping down from her full-time role after her medical leave proved longer than expected — a leadership vacuum that comes at a tricky time as the company eyes a possible IPO and races to catch Anthropic in the enterprise market.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s No. 2 executive, is stepping down from her full-time role, the Wall Street Journal reports .
In a staff note Thursday, Simo said her ongoing medical leave has proven longer and harder than expected, and that she’ll transition to a part-time advisory role instead. Simo joined OpenAI’s board of directors in 2024 and joined OpenAI in May 2025 as CEO of Applications, then a newly created role reporting directly to Sam Altman that consolidated the company’s business and product operations.
Her appointment came with a broader reporting shift: COO Brad Lightcap, CFO Sarah Friar, and CPO Kevin Weil all began reporting to her, while Altman stepped back to focus on research, compute, and safety.
Simo first disclosed her health issues in April, when she announced she was taking medical leave for a relapse of a neuroimmune condition; that same memo publicly announced that Lightcap was moving into a new “special projects” role and that CMO Kate Rouch was leaving the company to focus on cancer recovery. Weil has since left the company , too.
Simo came to OpenAI from Instacart, where she’d been CEO since 2021 and led the company through its 2023 IPO, and before that spent over a decade at Meta, including running the Facebook app.
Simo’s decision to step back permanently leaves Altman searching for a successor right as OpenAI itself eyes a possible IPO. She’d been widely seen as a likely candidate to take on even more responsibility once OpenAI went public, making this a real vacuum for him to address.
Simo was primarily focused on growing OpenAI’s consumer business. But ChatGPT’s growth cooled late last year, missing internal revenue targets, pushing the company to lean harder into coding tools instead, an area where it has been, and for now continues to be, trailing Anthropic.
TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for more information. Soon after the Journal story broke, Simo shared the news directly on X, after which Altman responded , also on X: “i am really sad about this and very grateful for all fidji has done for openai, and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person. we all wish her the best for a speedy recovery. this sucks.”
Simo’s announcement lands on a busy news day for OpenAI. Earlier Thursday, the company launched its new GPT-5.6 family of models — Sol, Terra, and Luna — alongside a new agent called ChatGPT Work, designed to handle multistep office tasks like drafting documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Both releases were framed by OpenAI as directly targeting Anthropic.
OpenAI’s executive ranks appear from the outside to be on the thin side for a company that was most recently assigned an $852 billion valuation. In addition to Altman, Lightcap, Friar, and co-founder Greg Brockman (who is also the company’s president and was overseeing product strategy while Simo was out), its bench includes Denise Dresser, who in December joined as the company’s chief revenue officer, overseeing its “global revenue strategy across enterprise and customer success,” per a release at the time.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see Dresser take on a more expansive role, given she previously spent two years as the CEO of Slack and, before that, spent 14 years with Slack’s parent company, Salesforce.
Simo’s departure comes against another backdrop worth understanding: OpenAI’s shifting approach to employee equity. In April of last year, the same month that Simo joined, the company shortened its vesting cliff — the waiting period before new hires’ stock grants begin vesting — from the industry-standard 12 months to 6 months. Then in December, OpenAI eliminated the cliff altogether for new hires, letting equity start vesting from day one.
The move, described internally by Simo as a way to let employees “take risks” without fear of losing equity if let go early, came amid an escalating AI talent war and reflects just how aggressively OpenAI has been spending to retain staff. The company was projected to spend $6 billion on stock-based compensation in 2025 alone.
None of the aforementioned exits appear tied to compensation. Executive equity packages are typically negotiated individually and could have entirely different vesting terms.
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Key takeaways
- Fidji Simo's departure leaves a leadership vacuum at OpenAI at a critical time for the company.
- The shift in focus to coding tools may impact OpenAI's growth strategy in the face of competition.
- The situation highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion in leadership roles within the tech sector.
Editorial analysis
Fidji Simo's departure from the number two executive role at OpenAI represents a critical moment for the company, especially as it prepares for a potential IPO. The transition to an advisory role due to health issues not only leaves a leadership vacuum but also raises questions about the continuity of OpenAI's growth strategies, particularly in a competitive market where the company is striving to catch up with Anthropic. For the Brazilian tech sector, this change may indicate how the health and well-being of leaders can impact strategic decisions in high-tech companies, something to be closely monitored.
Moreover, Simo's departure comes at a time when OpenAI has launched new AI models, which may indicate an attempt to revitalize its product and service offerings. The focus on coding tools, in response to the cooling growth of ChatGPT, suggests an adaptation to market demands. For Brazil, where AI adoption is rapidly growing, this change could influence how local startups and companies position themselves against major international players, particularly in terms of innovation and product development.
The impact of Simo's departure may also be felt in terms of diversity and inclusion within the tech sector. Her trajectory, which includes significant leadership at one of the largest AI companies in the world, serves as an example of how diverse experiences and perspectives are vital for corporate success. The absence of a female leader in such a prominent role could be a setback at a time when the industry is striving to be more inclusive. What to watch for next will be how OpenAI fills this gap and whether it will have implications for gender representation in leadership positions within the tech sector.
Finally, Simo's situation highlights the importance of supporting mental and physical health in high-pressure environments like the tech sector. As companies face increasing challenges, the need to prioritize employee well-being becomes even more evident. What may serve as an example for Brazilian companies is the necessity to create work environments that not only encourage innovation but also care for the health of their leaders and employees, thus ensuring long-term sustainability in operations and organizational culture.
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