OpenAI Employees Plan $6 Billion Share Sale
Current and former OpenAI employees are preparing to sell about $6 billion worth of shares to investors, including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and Dragoneer. The deal would value OpenAI at $500 billion, according to people familiar with the talks. The size of the sale may change, since discussions remain at an early stage. This secondary sale comes alongside SoftBank’s commitment to lead OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round, valuing the company at $300 billion. Recently, OpenAI secured $8.3 billion from a group of investors, signaling strong demand.
Representatives from Dragoneer and Thrive declined to comment, while spokespeople from OpenAI and SoftBank also offered no remarks. Bloomberg first reported the sale, which would give employees an opportunity to cash out during a competitive talent war in AI. As Meta aggressively recruits talent, several OpenAI staff members have already departed, including Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT.
Employee and Investor Participation
Allowing employees to sell shares helps startups retain talent without going public or being acquired. While current and former employees with at least two years at the company can take part, investors are not eligible this round. The strategy underscores how crucial secondary deals are for startups balancing liquidity and long-term growth.
SoftBank is placing a major bet on OpenAI. Earlier, the Japanese group closed a $1 billion purchase of OpenAI employee shares at a $300 billion valuation. Negotiations for that deal began before talks of a $500 billion valuation. With these moves, SoftBank is doubling down on OpenAI’s future in artificial intelligence.
Valuation and Future Outlook
If finalized, the $500 billion valuation would make OpenAI the world’s most valuable startup, surpassing Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Revenue is expected to triple this year, reaching $12.7 billion compared with $3.7 billion in 2024. The share sale follows the release of GPT-5, one of OpenAI’s most significant model launches to date.
This week, CEO Sam Altman told reporters that OpenAI intends to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure for AI services in the near future. He added, “You should expect a bunch of economists to wring their hands and say, ‘This is so crazy, it’s so reckless,’ and whatever. And we’ll just be like, ‘You know what? Let us do our thing.’”
