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OpenAI Employees Reaped $6.6 Billion in Pre-IPO Stock Sale

The tender shows how AI leaders use early liquidity to turn staff equity into cash before going public.

Overview

  • More than 600 current and former workers sold shares in an October 2025 tender totaling about $6.6 billion, with roughly 75 hitting the $30 million cap.
  • OpenAI requires a two-year hold before sales, so many who joined after ChatGPT’s late-2022 debut could cash out for the first time.
  • The company raised its per-person limit from $10 million to $30 million in response to strong demand from outside investors.
  • Reports peg OpenAI’s private valuation in the hundreds of billions, with accounts around the sale ranging from roughly $400 billion to higher figures.
  • Some employees moved remaining shares into donor-advised funds for tax-favored giving as investors test tokenized products that track OpenAI without conferring equity.