Simo's exit lands at a sensitive moment for OpenAI's pre-IPO positioning, stripping out the executive investors had increasingly viewed as heir apparent to run the business once the company lists. The gap widens an already crowded succession picture, with product, revenue and strategy duties now split across Greg Brockman, Sarah Friar, Denise Dresser and Jason Kwon rather than consolidated under one deputy. That fragmentation could feed into due diligence questions from bankers and prospective public investors weighing governance stability alongside OpenAI's burn rate. It also lands as OpenAI tries to close the enterprise gap with Anthropic, a fight Simo had been personally driving. Expect the move to sharpen scrutiny of OpenAI's leadership bench in any roadshow materials, even if the listing itself slips toward 2027.OpenAI's presumed next leader is stepping back permanently, leaving Sam Altman to rebuild his bench just as the company edges toward a public listing.Summary:Fidji Simo will not return full-time from medical leave and will instead become a part-time adviser to OpenAIShe told staff in a note that her condition had worsened and recovery would take longer than expectedThe change is the latest in a string of executive shifts at OpenAI ahead of a possible IPO this yearSimo had been widely tipped to take a larger leadership role once OpenAI went publicAltman must now find an alternative to fill the gap she leaves in product and business leadershipThe move comes as OpenAI works to close ground on Anthropic among enterprise customersMain article:OpenAI's second-highest-ranking executive, Fidji Simo, is stepping back from her full-time role after an extended medical leave, according to the Wall Street Journal, marking one of the most consequential leadership changes at the company as it edges toward a long-anticipated public listing.Simo told staff in a note that her medical condition had worsened and that her path to recovery would be considerably longer than she had first expected. Rather than returning to her previous remit, she will move into a part-time advisory position. Simo had joined OpenAI in mid-2025 after leaving her post as chief executive of Instacart, brought in personally by Sam Altman to run the company's product and business divisions while he focused on research and compute. Her portfolio grew quickly, eventually covering commercialisation, the rollout of advertising inside ChatGPT, enterprise sales and a broader "superapp" push, and she had come to be seen internally and externally as the person most likely to run the company's day to day operations once it completed a public offering.Her departure lands at an awkward moment. OpenAI has confidentially filed paperwork with securities regulators and has been weighing a listing as soon as the back half of this year, though more recent reporting suggests the timeline could slip into 2027. The company is also locked in an increasingly public contest with rival Anthropic for enterprise customers, a battle Simo had been steering directly through an aggressive push to reposition ChatGPT as a workplace productivity tool.Her exit follows an earlier bout of medical leave in April, when she first flagged a relapse of a chronic neuroimmune condition and duties were temporarily spread across colleagues including Greg Brockman, Sarah Friar, Denise Dresser and Jason Kwon. With Simo now stepping back permanently from full-time duties, Altman will need to settle on a more lasting arrangement for who leads product and business functions, a decision that will draw close attention from prospective investors assessing OpenAI's readiness for public markets. This article was written by fl6553e4b45d84486a91658a8b3f02bf22 at investinglive.com.