Employees at OpenAI reportedly sold shares worth $6.6 billion in a major secondary stock sale last year, reflecting the rapid rise in valuations across the artificial intelligence industry.
According to reports citing The Wall Street Journal, more than 600 current and former employees participated in the transaction. The deal allowed staff members to sell company shares to investors without OpenAI going public.
The sale reportedly valued OpenAI at nearly $500 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable private technology companies. Some employees earned as much as $30 million from the transaction.
OpenAI’s growth accelerated after the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. The chatbot pushed generative AI into mainstream use and triggered a global race among technology companies to build advanced AI systems.
Investor interest in AI companies has grown sharply since then. Venture firms and institutional investors have committed billions of dollars to companies developing AI models, infrastructure and enterprise tools.
Reports said OpenAI initially capped employee share sales at around $10 million per person before increasing the limit as investor demand rose.
The share sale also highlights the growing competition for AI researchers and engineers. Companies including Meta, Google and Anthropic continue offering large compensation packages to attract experienced AI talent.
Industry analysts say private AI firms are now generating employee wealth at a scale usually seen after stock market listings. Secondary stock sales have become an important way for startups to retain talent while rewarding early employees.
The impact is visible beyond the technology sector. Reports indicate rising AI wealth has started influencing San Francisco’s luxury housing market and startup investment activity.
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OpenAI is one of the central companies in the global AI race as firms continue investing heavily in computing infrastructure and advanced AI models. The reported $6.6 billion employee cash-out marks one of the largest known private share sales in the technology industry and reflects the scale of investor confidence surrounding artificial intelligence.