OpenAI’s Sam Altman wanted a mansion with a bat cave. Instead, he apparently got a “lemon.”
That’s according to a new suit filed against the contractors of the $27 million house Altman owns in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood.
The lawsuit against the builders, Troon Pacific and its CEO Greg Malin, is seeking unspecified damages for the luxury home. The plaintiff is listed as 950 Lombard LLC, and public records say the OpenAI CEO is the mansion’s current resident, according to The San Francisco Standard. The LLC purchased the home in 2020.
Back in 2020, Architectural Digest featured the 9,000-square-foot estate, which boasted a wellness cottage, a “bat cave” tunnel, an outdoor theater, an art gallery and a “turntable” garage.
However, the lawsuit alleges the house was poorly built, leading to costly damage. Chief among the complaints was the infinity pool, which the plaintiff says was badly designed and has waterproofing issues that flooded the house last year, the Standard reported.
The luxury home also reportedly had issues with a shoddy line that sent raw sewage onto the property. The suit claims Troon and Malin knew of the issues and lied about fixing them to sell the house.
The plaintiff says repairing the property will cost at least $4 million.
Troon Pacific and Malin have faced other lawsuits alleging shoddy workmanship, according to the Standard, and have reportedly been forced to pay back almost $50 million to investors.