--- title: Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due... description: Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications and number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role due to a serious flare-up of POTS, a chronic... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due to health condition | daily.dev og:description: Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications and number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role due to a serious flare-up of POTS, a chronic... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/nmhLreC1W.png og:image:alt: Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due to health condition og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due to health condition **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications and number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role due to a serious flare-up of POTS, a chronic neuroimmune condition. She had been on medical leave since April and will transition to a part-time advisory role. Her responsibilities are being split among co-founder Greg Brockman (product strategy), CFO Sarah Friar, and CSO Jason Kwon. The departure adds to a string of senior exits at OpenAI in 2025, including CPO Kevin Weil and CMO Kate Rouch, at a sensitive time as the company eyes a potential IPO and works to close an enterprise gap with Anthropic. ## Content Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications and effective number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role due to a serious flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic neuroimmune condition. She had been on medical leave since April and will now transition to a part-time advisory role. Simo joined OpenAI in May 2024 after leading Instacart through its 2023 IPO. Her job was essentially to bridge research and revenue — turning powerful models into paid products and pushing the organization toward a more product-and-sales-driven structure. It was a significant role, and she'd only been in it for about a year. With Simo out, her responsibilities are being split across three people: co-founder Greg Brockman takes product strategy (he'd already been covering her work during the medical leave), CFO Sarah Friar, and CSO Jason Kwon. Sam Altman posted that he was "really sad about this" and grateful for both her work and her friendship. Greg Brockman echoed that, saying he hoped for a quick recovery. The timing is awkward for OpenAI. The company is eyeing a potential IPO and trying to close an enterprise gap with Anthropic, and Simo's departure is the latest in a string of senior exits in 2025 — CPO Kevin Weil and CMO Kate Rouch have also recently left. Brockman's expanded role during her leave is now permanent. ## Questions this post answers ### Why did Fidji Simo step down from her role at OpenAI? Fidji Simo stepped back from her full-time role as OpenAI's CEO of Applications due to a serious flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic neuroimmune condition. She had been on medical leave since April and is transitioning to a part-time advisory role rather than fully leaving the company. _daily.dev keeps engineers and tech workers current on leadership shifts shaping OpenAI's direction._ ### Who is taking over Fidji Simo's responsibilities at OpenAI? Her responsibilities are being split three ways: co-founder Greg Brockman takes over product strategy, a role he had already been covering during her medical leave and which is now permanent, while CFO Sarah Friar and CSO Jason Kwon absorb other parts of her portfolio bridging research and revenue. _Those tracking OpenAI's organizational structure can follow leadership changes like this on daily.dev._ --- Tags: [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership), [#ipo](https://daily.dev/tags/ipo) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due to health condition","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T14:47:45.965Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:13:38.324Z","description":"Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications and number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role due to a serious flare-up of POTS, a chronic...","image":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HM1B0ySaMAAq4b0.png","thumbnailUrl":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HM1B0ySaMAAq4b0.png","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"openai,leadership,ipo","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI's number two role due to health condition"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/fidji-simo-steps-down-from-openai-s-number-two-role-due-to-health-condition-nmhlrec1w#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did Fidji Simo step down from her role at OpenAI?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Fidji Simo stepped back from her full-time role as OpenAI's CEO of Applications due to a serious flare-up of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic neuroimmune condition. She had been on medical leave since April and is transitioning to a part-time advisory role rather than fully leaving the company. daily.dev keeps engineers and tech workers current on leadership shifts shaping OpenAI's direction."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Who is taking over Fidji Simo's responsibilities at OpenAI?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Her responsibilities are being split three ways: co-founder Greg Brockman takes over product strategy, a role he had already been covering during her medical leave and which is now permanent, while CFO Sarah Friar and CSO Jason Kwon absorb other parts of her portfolio bridging research and revenue. Those tracking OpenAI's organizational structure can follow leadership changes like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```