Last year, an unknown person briefly took nominal control over OpenAI's $175 million startup fund. The company says the government filing was 'fabricated.'

The Orchard is a two story affordable housing complex in Santa Ana, California. It serves the area's chronically homeless residents and features a community garden, a commercial kitchen, and on-site parking. And for a small period of time in 2023 it was also the headquarters of OpenAI's $175 million venture capital fund, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State. These documents were first pointed out in the newsletter Non-Gaap Investing.

One document, filed in April of 2023, listed Jacob Thomas Vespers and Vespers Inc—a company formed the same day—as manager of the fund. A document filed a few weeks later registered the address of the company as unit 234, a small second-story apartment overlooking the courtyard at The Orchard.

But who was this mysterious person who briefly held the keys to one of the most highly-watched investment vehicles in Silicon Valley?

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