'A tale in three acts': Sam Altman seeks $50,000 refund after waiting 7.5 years for Tesla Roadster

The following message, sent by Sam Altman in 2025, showed him asking to cancel his booking.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman publicly expressed his frustration after waiting more than seven years for a Tesla vehicle he had reserved, stating that he now wanted a refund of the $50,000 payment made at the time of booking.

In a recent post shared online, Altman published a sequence of email exchanges with Tesla, detailing the timeline of his reservation and subsequent correspondence. The first message dated 2018 confirmed the booking, with Tesla writing, “We have successfully received your reservation payments. Your reservation is now paid in full.”

The following message, sent by Altman in 2025, showed him asking to cancel his booking. “Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50k?” he wrote.

The third email in the thread indicated that the address originally used by Tesla to send the confirmation message was no longer functional, prompting further confusion about communication.

Sharing the screenshots, Altman captioned the post, “A tale in three acts,” adding a brief reflection on the delay. “I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” he wrote.

A tale in three acts: pic.twitter.com/ClRZBgT24g

— Sam Altman (@sama) October 30, 2025

The post quickly gained traction online and sparking varied responses from users. One person questioned his decision, writing, “Why cancel after waiting 7.5 years when the final version is going to be unveiled at the end of the year?” Another remarked humorously, “What’s $50K between two billionaires anyway.”

Others referred to the anticipated model’s performance features. One comment read, “Sam, 7.5-year wait’s brutal, but Tesla’s chief designer confirms Roadster will unveil late 2025... 0–60 under 2s, 620mi range, top speed 250+mph. SpaceX thrusters optional for 1s acceleration. Reconsider refund?” Another added, “At this point it’s vintage before it even ships.”

According to information available on Tesla’s official website, the Roadster was described as an “all-electric supercar” designed to “maximise the potential of aerodynamic engineering” with “record-setting performance and efficiency.”