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OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation
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3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: CNBC
Relevant to tracking the commercial and resource scaling of frontier AI labs; useful context for understanding the financial pressures and incentives shaping OpenAI's development and safety priorities.
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Summary
OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion share sale valuing the company at $500 billion, marking one of the largest private fundraising rounds in history. The round reflects massive investor confidence in OpenAI's commercial trajectory and frontier AI development capabilities. This funding will support continued scaling of compute infrastructure and AI research.
Key Points
- •$6.6 billion raised in a share sale, valuing OpenAI at $500 billion — among the highest valuations ever for a private company.
- •The round signals continued investor appetite for frontier AI development despite concerns about profitability timelines.
- •Funds are expected to support compute expansion, infrastructure, and ongoing development of advanced AI systems.
- •The valuation reflects OpenAI's dominant market position following the success of ChatGPT and API products.
- •Raises governance questions about the pace of commercialization vs. safety-focused development at scale.
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| OpenAI | Organization | 62.0 |
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OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation Skip Navigation Markets Business Investing Tech Politics Video Watchlist Investing Club PRO Livestream Menu
Key Points The sale fell short of the $10.3 billion authorized, with insiders seeing this as a sign of employee confidence and continued investor demand.
Eligible employees who had held shares for more than two years were given the option to participate.
The move comes as OpenAI faces fierce competition for AI talent, with secondary sales used to retain staff without going public.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images OpenAI has finalized a secondary share sale totaling $6.6 billion, allowing current and former employees to sell stock at a record $500 billion valuation, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
Bloomberg was first to report that the deal had closed.
CNBC reported in August that OpenAI was looking to conduct a secondary share sale at a valuation of $500 billion, with investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi's MGX, and T. Rowe Price.
In a statement to CNBC, MGX said it is "pleased to be a core partner to OpenAI" and looks forward to continuing to build on its "strong relationship as a significant investor across multiple funding rounds."
While OpenAI had authorized up to $10.3 billion in shares for sale — an increase from the original $6 billion target — only about two-thirds of that amount ultimately changed hands.
The person briefed on internal discussions said that lower participation is being viewed internally as a vote of confidence in the company's long-term prospects, and a sign that investor appetite remains strong, even at a $500 billion valuation — up sharply from $300 billion earlier this year.
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The offer was presented to eligible current and former employees in early September, with participation open to those who had held shares for more than two years.
The share sale marks OpenAI's second major tender offer in less than a year, following a $1.5 billion deal with SoftBank in November .
This latest transaction cements OpenAI's status as the world's most valuable privately held company , surpassing SpaceX's valuation of $456 billion.
The sale also comes amid intensifying competition for AI talent. Meta , in particular, has reportedly offered nine-figure compensation packages in a bid to recruit top researchers.
OpenAI is among a growing cohort of high-profile startups — including SpaceX,
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