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OpenAI is in early talks for a share sale that could let employees cash out and push the company’s valuation to around $500 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The deal would offer current and former employees a chance to sell several billion dollars’ worth of shares and comes as OpenAI’s user base and revenues continue to grow rapidly. The company, backed by Microsoft, is currently valued at about $300 billion.
The discussions are ongoing and private, the source said, declining to be named.
OpenAI has seen a sharp rise in demand since launching ChatGPT in late 2022. The chatbot now draws around 700 million weekly active users — up from 400 million in February — and has helped drive annualized revenue to $12 billion so far this year.
The potential share sale follows a primary funding round earlier this year led by Japan’s SoftBank, which is still working to complete its $22.5 billion portion of the raise. The rest of the round was subscribed at the $300 billion valuation, the source said.
Other participants in the raise include Blackstone, TPG, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, Altimeter Capital, Coatue, D1 Capital, Thrive Capital, and Tiger Global.
With competition for AI talent intensifying, tech firms are offering hefty packages and equity opportunities. Meta has reportedly made a multi-billion-dollar offer to woo Scale AI’s young CEO Alexandr Wang to head a new AI division. Meanwhile, other private tech companies like ByteDance, Databricks, and Ramp have also turned to secondary sales to reset valuations and reward employees.
Existing OpenAI backers, including Thrive Capital, are in talks to take part in the employee sale, the source added. Thrive declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported the possible transaction.
OpenAI is also weighing a shift in corporate structure that could pave the way for a future IPO by moving beyond its current capped-profit model. CFO Sarah Friar said in May that a public listing would only happen when both the company and broader markets are ready.
OpenAI, which began as a nonprofit in 2015, shifted toward a hybrid model in 2019 by creating a capped-profit arm to raise outside capital. Microsoft was the first major backer, investing $1 billion.
Internal forecasts suggest OpenAI expects to generate $12.7 billion in revenue next year. Its annual recurring revenue has already hit $13 billion, with projections topping $20 billion by the end of 2025. The company says it doesn’t expect to turn cash-flow positive until 2029, when it hopes to cross $125 billion in revenue.
