"Roughly 600 staff at OpenAI have walked away with an average of $11 million (£8 million) apiece after cashing out a combined $6.6 billion (£4.8 billion) in shares, in one of the largest single transfers of employee wealth that Silicon Valley has produced."
"The secondary share sale, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, allowed early employees of the ChatGPT developer to sell stock to incoming investors rather than wait for an initial public offering. As many as 75 of the lucky group sold the maximum permitted by the company and walked away with $30 million each."
"OpenAI requires staff to hold their shares for two years before they can be sold, meaning last year's deal was the first significant opportunity for early employees to realise their gains since ChatGPT was released to the public in November 2022. The product's instant global success has driven one of the steepest re-ratings of a private company in corporate history."
"The lab founded by Sam Altman and his co-founders was valued at around $1 billion in 2019, when it established a profit-making subsidiary alongside its non-profit parent. By 2023, after Microsoft's landmark investment shortly following ChatGPT's launch, the figure had reached $29 billion. The October secondary sale that delivered last year's payouts valued the company at $500 billion, and a further $122 billion fundraising round completed in March pushed the figure to $852 billion."
About 600 OpenAI staff cashed out shares in a combined $6.6 billion secondary sale, averaging roughly $11 million each. The transaction enabled early employees to sell stock to incoming investors instead of waiting for an initial public offering. Up to 75 employees sold the maximum permitted and received around $30 million each. The payouts reflect rapid wealth creation tied to AI-driven revaluation of the company. OpenAI requires employees to hold shares for two years before selling, making the prior deal the first major opportunity since ChatGPT’s public release in November 2022. OpenAI’s valuation rose from about $1 billion in 2019 to $29 billion by 2023, then to $500 billion after an October secondary sale and $852 billion after a March fundraising round. An IPO expected in early 2027 could push valuation above $1 trillion.
Read at Business Matters
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