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Comment by AlbertCory | Hacker News Reader

There is such a thing as Directors and Officers insurance, which I assume was provided to every member of the board. Maybe someone with more legal expertise can advise here, but from what I know, it does not protect you against certain things. Being sued by another member of the board might be one of those.

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It wouldn't shield you from things that you purposefully did wrong, for instance fraud.

Far more than you ever wanted to know about this:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/directors-and-officers-...

Thanks, I was briefly considering being a director at a nonprofit. I concluded that it was way more risk & hassle than it was worth, even with D&O.

Likewise, but for two different for profit companies. I figured that if I wanted to do that sort of thing I should focus on it entirely and first bone up on the exact ins and outs and I don't think I have the right temperament for such a role (to put it mildly).

I've been a director on non-profit boards for 20+ years. These were small organizations, nothing at all high profile. Well-run boards with honest, dedicated members have little to worry about. Thing is, fundamental to board integrity is the concept that directors must avoid even the appearance of conflicts of interest. If directors adhere to this advice serious harm is unlikely.

The OpenAI board members were vivid examples of massive COI. It was bound to blow up in their faces. They really should have known better. Hard to believe such smart people could act so wrongly. Truly unbelievable.

Thank you. Both for speaking out and for your work.

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