OpenAI Targets $500 Billion Valuation in Employee Stock Deal

OpenAI is reportedly in early talks to offer a secondary stock sale for current and former employees, valuing the company at around $500 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The sale would mark a major jump from the company’s previous $300 billion valuation, established during a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank Group Corp. If finalized, it would place OpenAI among the world’s most valuable private tech firms.

Sources say that Thrive Capital and other existing investors have expressed interest in purchasing employee shares. Neither OpenAI nor Thrive has commented publicly on the matter.

The proposed transaction comes shortly after OpenAI raised $8.3 billion from investors in a follow-up to the SoftBank-led round. The offer was reportedly five times oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor appetite.

As OpenAI continues to scale, the company is using investor demand to offer liquidity to staff and retain top talent. Recent high-profile exits to Meta Platforms Inc., which has been aggressively recruiting AI experts, have increased internal pressure to provide competitive incentives.

OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, has seen record growth in recent months. ChatGPT usage has surged to 700 million weekly active users, with over 3 billion messages processed daily. The company is preparing to launch GPT-5 and is expanding into hardware through a $6.5 billion acquisition of a startup co-founded by Apple’s Jony Ive.

Despite its rapid rise, OpenAI is facing ongoing challenges over its corporate structure. Investor negotiations, especially with major backer Microsoft, which has invested $13.75 billion, remain unresolved. Talks have extended into how future access to OpenAI’s technology will be managed after current agreements expire in 2030.