OpenAI Employees Cash Out $6.6 Billion in Shares Ahead of IPO

OpenAI's valuation surge has reached unprecedented heights, with the company now standing as the world's most valuable private entity at $852 billion. This follows a $122 billion funding round in March 2026, nearly triple its October 2025 valuation of $500 billion.

More than 600 employees have participated in secondary share sales, liquidating approximately $6.6 billion in equity. The firm's generous compensation structure—averaging $1.5 million in stock grants per employee—has created substantial wealth long before any public listing.

Despite generating $2 billion monthly revenue with 900 million weekly users, OpenAI remains unprofitable. The company's aggressive infrastructure investments include a $300 billion Oracle cloud commitment and participation in SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate project.