Prime Highlights
- OpenAI has appointed Mike Liberatore as its new Business Finance Officer to oversee major infrastructure and compute spending.
- His hiring signals OpenAI’s continued push to expand AI computing capacity, following its $300 billion deal with Oracle.
Key Facts
- Liberatore previously served as CFO at xAI, Airbnb, and SquareTrade, and held senior finance roles at PayPal and eBay.
- He will report to CFO Sarah Friar and collaborate with Greg Brockman’s team on contracts and capital strategy.
Background
OpenAI has appointed Mike Liberatore as its new Business Finance Officer. Liberatore joins the American artificial intelligence organization after serving as Chief Financial Officer at xAI, the AI company founded by Elon Musk. At OpenAI, he will be responsible for managing the company’s large infrastructure and compute spending.
Liberatore starts his role reporting to OpenAI’s CFO, Sarah Friar. He will work closely with Greg Brockman’s team, which handles OpenAI’s contracts and capital strategy. His hiring reflects OpenAI’s continued push to expand its AI computing power, including a major $300 billion deal signed with Oracle.
Liberatore brings extensive finance experience. He began his career at Hewlett-Packard and Intel Corporation before moving to eBay as Director of Corporate FP&A. He later joined PayPal as Finance Executive for the Asia region. He also served as CFO at SquareTrade and Airbnb, where he managed Airbnb Payments and global tax operations, eventually becoming Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development.
His most recent role was CFO at Elon Musk’s xAI, where he helped arrange a $5 billion debt sale and a $5 billion equity raise partly backed by SpaceX. He also approved major data center expansion plans, but left the role after just three months in July 2025.
Liberatore’s appointment comes amid rising tensions between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Recently, OpenAI declared that its nonprofit parent would continue to provide control and hold more than 100 billion dollars in equity.
Having an excellent financial foundation and corporate development experience, OpenAI is looking to make progress as one of the leading AI firms in an industry that is quickly expanding.
