Sam Altman, the entrepreneur behind OpenAI, has been given the first ever “Golden Visa” issued by the government of Indonesia. The Golden Visa is intended to attract foreign investors.
The government of Indonesia said the program is intended to attract “quality, high-net-worth individual and corporate foreign investors.” Under this new visa scheme, foreign investors can receive a resident permit of between five and 10 years, depending on the value of their investment.
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To qualify, individual investors must establish an Indonesian company worth at least US $2.5 million in order to receive the five-year visa or a US $5 million investment for the 10-year visa. Further, individuals who do not wish to establish a local entity can invest at least $350,000 into shares of a local public company, deposit or savings accounts, or Indonesian government bonds, to be eligible for the five-year visa, or $700,000 for 10 years.
Meanwhile, directors and commissioners of businesses can obtain a five-year visa if their company invests at least $25 million, or $50 million for the 10-year visa.
Indonesia’s Immigration Director General Silmy Karim said that Sam Altman, “has an international reputation and may bring benefits to Indonesia.”
“With this golden visa, the hope is that Altman can contribute towards the development and use of AI in Indonesia,” Karim added.
Sam Altman was born in St. Louis Missouri to a Jewish family in 1985. Altman studied computer science at Stanford, but never completed his B.A. When he was only 19-years-old, Altman co-founded Loopta location-based social networking mobile application, and managed to raise $30 million for the new company at such a young age.
Sam Altman joined Y Combinator, an American technology startup accelerator, and became its president just three years later. Then in 2015, he established YC Continuity, a $700 million equity fund investing in YC companies as they matured.
