Stay connected with BizTech Community—follow us on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news and reviews delivered straight to you.
Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI is preparing a secondary stock sale that could value the company at roughly $500 billion. The deal, still in early discussions, would allow current and former employees to cash out around $6 billion worth of shares to major institutional investors.
The transaction would mark one of the largest private secondary share sales in tech history, reflecting OpenAI’s surging influence in the global AI market.
Who’s Buying?
According to people familiar with the talks, investors SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Thrive Capital are in negotiations to participate. All three firms are existing OpenAI investors, with Thrive Capital expected to lead the round.
SoftBank in particular has already deepened its stake in OpenAI, having previously committed $1 billion to employee share purchases at a $300 billion valuation earlier this year.
OpenAI’s Meteoric Valuation Growth
OpenAI’s valuation has soared since the late 2022 launch of ChatGPT, the generative AI platform that reshaped consumer and enterprise use of artificial intelligence.
- In March, OpenAI closed a $40 billion primary funding round at a $300 billion valuation—the largest single round ever for a private tech company.
- Earlier this month, the company confirmed $8.3 billion in fresh capital linked to that round.
- The upcoming secondary sale could lift its implied valuation to half a trillion dollars, putting it among the most valuable private firms globally.
GPT-5 and the Push for Scale
The secondary offering comes just a week after OpenAI unveiled GPT-5, its most advanced model to date, billed as smarter, faster, and more useful across domains like coding, writing, and health care.
CEO Sam Altman acknowledged user frustration at losing access to earlier models during the rollout, but insisted GPT-5 represents a step-change in reasoning and capability. He has described OpenAI’s strategy as one that prioritizes “long-term goals over short-term financial criticism,” even if it means investing trillions in infrastructure to support future AI services.
Revenue Outlook
OpenAI’s revenue trajectory has been staggering:
- Annualized run rate reached $12 billion in the first seven months of 2025.
- The company is on pace to hit $20 billion in revenue by year-end, compared to just $3.7 billion in 2024.
- OpenAI itself expects revenue to triple to $12.7 billion this year under internal forecasts.
The surge is being fueled by demand for enterprise AI tools, cloud partnerships, and continued consumer adoption of ChatGPT.
A New Model for Private Tech Financing
OpenAI’s secondary share sale could set a precedent for how late-stage private tech firms provide liquidity without altering governance or rushing to go public. Analysts note that such transactions can significantly influence investor sentiment, particularly in industries where valuations are volatile and growth is rapid.
While the terms of the deal are still fluid, the potential $500 billion valuation underscores just how central OpenAI has become to the AI race.
