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, in accordance with an individual accustomed to the transaction.
Bloomberg was first to report that the deal had closed.
CNBC reported in August that OpenAI was trying 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 an announcement to CNBC, MGX said it’s “pleased to be a core partner to OpenAI” and appears forward to continuing to construct on its “strong relationship as a major investor across multiple funding rounds.”
While OpenAI had authorized as much as $10.3 billion in shares on the market — a rise from the unique $6 billion goal — only about two-thirds of that quantity ultimately modified hands.
The person briefed on internal discussions said that lower participation is being viewed internally as a vote of confidence in the corporate’s long-term prospects, and an indication that investor appetite stays strong, even at a $500 billion valuation — up sharply from $300 billion earlier this yr.
The offer was presented to eligible current and former employees in early September, with participation open to those that had held shares for greater than two years.
The share sale marks OpenAI’s second major tender offer in lower than a yr, following a $1.5 billion cope with SoftBank in November.
This latest transaction cements OpenAI’s status because the world’s most useful privately held company, surpassing SpaceX’s valuation of $456 billion.
The sale also comes amid intensifying competition for AI talent. Meta, specifically, has reportedly offered nine-figure compensation packages in a bid to recruit top researchers.
OpenAI is amongst a growing cohort of high-profile startups — including SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks — using secondary sales that allow employees to money out while staying private. The move is widely seen as a method to retain talent and reward long-term employees without pursuing an IPO.
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