OpenAI may sell employees’ shares to investors at a US$500 billion valuation, sources say
If the deal goes ahead, it would elevate OpenAI’s valuation on paper by two-thirds to US$500 billion, making it one of the world’s largest privately held companies
The company is targeting a secondary stock sale in the billions of dollars, the people said, asking to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Existing investors including Thrive Capital have approached OpenAI about buying some of the employee shares, the people said.
The latest move follows news last week that the start-up had secured US$8.3 billion from a syndicate of investors for a second tranche of that US$40 billion financing, which was oversubscribed by about five times, according to one of the people briefed on the discussions. OpenAI managed to snag that funding ahead of schedule, the person said.
Major US start-ups often negotiate share sales for their employees as a way to reward and retain staff, and also attract external investors. The company run by Sam Altman is looking to leverage investor demand to provide employees with liquidity that reflects the company’s growth, according to one of the people familiar with the investment negotiations.