| You're receiving Dealmaker for free. Upgrade to a paid subscription to access all of our award-winning tech and business journalism. Subscribe to The Information here for 25% off your first year (normally $399). Welcome back! OpenAI's investors are accustomed to turmoil. There's been a steady stream of high-profile departures since last November, when CEO Sam Altman was fired in a board coup of cinematic proportions. That may be why its backers, though surprised by this week's resignation of Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and two other top technical leaders, aren't running away from the startup's huge funding round. Those that signed up to invest at a staggering $150 billion valuation knew what they were getting into. And now we have more details on who these investors are. Coatue Management is participating in the round, which could reach up to $7 billion, according to a person briefed on the status of the deal talks. Investors say Dragoneer Investment Group and Altimeter Capital are also considering joining. The participation of these firms means that OpenAI and Thrive Capital, which is leading the round, are dusting off a playbook from 2021, when crossover funds made big bets on late-stage startups. As I scooped earlier this month, Tiger Global Management is also participating in the megaround—as may the United Arab Emirates' MGX. The round hasn't officially closed, but I don't expect investors to reverse their decision to invest due to Murati's exit. OpenAI's leaders are less important to investors than its core revenue-generating product, AI chatbot ChatGPT, as well as its chief, Sam Altman. After all, it's not Murati they're betting on—or Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew or the head of post training, Barret Zoph, who both said Wednesday they were also quitting. Investors are betting on the company's powerful brand, which sets it apart from other large language models like Anthropic and xAI. The belief that OpenAI is a rocket ship, rusty bolts and all, may also explain why Altman seems likely to come away from the current upheaval with more control of OpenAI than ever. As OpenAI transitions from a nonprofit that governs a for-profit, to a for-profit benefit corporation, Altman is likely to get equity for the first time. Of course I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if Altman hadn't returned after the board fired him last year. Perhaps Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder and former chief scientist at OpenAI, Murati and several others that have since departed might have chosen to stay. It raises the question: Would the company be in a better position today? What is clear is that Altman has yet to restore a sense of stability at OpenAI. And rival Anthropic, which has already poached OpenAI co-founder John Schulman, is the biggest beneficiary of the constant turmoil. Investors who are betting on OpenAI's brand and technology prowess are also gambling that it can continuously remake itself without many of the players who got it here today. Stephanie Palazzolo and Jon Victor contributed to this article. | 
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