OpenAI Valuation Hits $500 Billion After $6.6 Billion Share Sale To Investors

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has reached a valuation of $500 billion following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares, a source familiar with the matter told reporters on Thursday.

The latest valuation marks a sharp increase from its previous $300 billion, underscoring OpenAI’s rapid growth in both users and revenue. Reuters had earlier reported details of the stock sale in August.

As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The company had authorised sales of more than $10 billion worth of stock on the secondary market, the source added.

Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX and T. Rowe Price did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The transaction adds to SoftBank’s earlier investment in OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round.

OpenAI generated about $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, roughly 16% more than its total for all of last year, the Information reported earlier this week.

The share sale comes amid intensifying competition among global tech giants for AI talent, with lucrative compensation packages fueling aggressive recruitment. Meta has notably invested billions in Scale AI and recently poached its 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang to head its new super-intelligence unit.

Faridah Abdulkadiri

Source: Arise