This entire debacle has convinced me that Altman is both smarter and more ruthless (machiavellian?) than anybody who was on the board and, as little as I care about him, his mission, or OpenAI, I still think they are better off with him solidly in charge.
The board's letter is a big "WTF" that led to their downfall. Sam's is basically "I'm back and bigger than ever, thanks to all the minions who helped, now let's get back to implementing the singularity".
Well I think it is interesting that Adam D'Angelo remains on the board. If the theories about a power struggle are correct, he managed to be part of the "coup" attempt, and remain at the seat of power despite it failing.
Compare the "triumphant return" letter he wrote (https://openai.com/blog/sam-altman-returns-as-ceo-openai-has...), versus the "we're jettisoning Sam because he's not candid" letter: https://openai.com/blog/openai-announces-leadership-transiti...
The board's letter is a big "WTF" that led to their downfall. Sam's is basically "I'm back and bigger than ever, thanks to all the minions who helped, now let's get back to implementing the singularity".