Courtesy of Stability AI
- The cofounder of Stability AI dumped his stake for $100 just months before the company hit a $1 billion valuation.
- Cyrus Hodes says he was tricked by the company's CEO into believing his shares were "worthless."
- The firm has sought a $4 billion valuation more recently, and Hodes' shares would have been worth over $500 million on that basis, he said in a lawsuit.
The smashing success of ChatGPT helped ignite a stunning surge in AI-focused stocks this year, adding billions of dollars to the wealth of tech entrepreneurs like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
But not everyone has had the same luck.
The cofounder of artificial-intelligence startup Stability AI took a massive notional loss — when he dumped his 15% stake for a mere $100 just months before the company hit a $1 billion valuation.