New York
OpenAI Hits $500 Billion Valuation After $6.6B Share Sale — Largest for Any Private Company
1. Record-Breaking Valuation
1.1 OpenAI’s latest secondary share sale valued the company at $500 billion.
1.2 This makes it the world’s most valuable privately held company.
2. $6.6 Billion Employee Share Sale
2.1 Current and former employees sold $6.6 billion worth of shares.
2.2 Buyers in the deal included:
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SoftBank
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Dragoneer Investment Group
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Thrive Capital
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MGX
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T. Rowe Price
2.3 Cash went to individuals, not OpenAI’s corporate balance sheet.
3. Strategic Purpose of the Sale
3.1 Served as a retention and incentives strategy.
3.2 Context:
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Meta poached 7+ senior engineers from OpenAI in summer 2025.
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Meta reportedly offered multi-million-dollar signing bonuses to recruits.
4. Comparison With Previous Funding
4.1 Last funding round:
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$40 billion raised in August 2024
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Valuation at that time: $300 billion
4.2 Key recurring investors:
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SoftBank
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Thrive Capital
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Dragoneer
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T. Rowe Price
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Blackstone
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TPG
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Founders Fund
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Sequoia Capital
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Andreessen Horowitz
Funding Summary Table
| Round / Sale Type | Amount Raised | Valuation | Investors (Key) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee Share Sale | $6.6B | $500B | SoftBank, Dragoneer, Thrive, MGX, T. Rowe Price |
| August 2024 Funding Round | $40B | $300B | SoftBank, Blackstone, TPG, Sequoia, A16Z, Founders Fund |
5. Major Capital Commitments
5.1 OpenAI has pledged $300 billion over 5 years to use Oracle Cloud infrastructure.
5.2 Nvidia plans a $100 billion strategic infrastructure investment.
6. Revenue vs. Burn Rate (H1 2025)
6.1 Reported revenue: $4.3 billion (first half of 2025)
6.2 Cash burn: $2.5 billion
6.3 Aggressive spending driven by:
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Model development (e.g., Sora 2)
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Cloud and AI infrastructure scaling
H1 2025 Financial Snapshot
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.3B |
| Cash Burn | $2.5B |
| Net Position | +$1.8B (pre-infra commitments) |
7. Corporate Structure Uncertainty
7.1 A non-binding agreement with Microsoft was signed recently.
7.2 Seen as a step toward converting OpenAI into a for-profit entity.
7.3 Legal confirmation is still pending, creating potential risks if conversion stalls.
8. Competitive and Product Momentum
8.1 Recent launches:
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Sora 2 video model
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Integrated social media feed
8.2 Product pace described as “blistering,” supporting valuation optimism.
Disclaimer: Content by The Profit India is for informational purposes only and not financial advice. Readers should verify facts and consult professionals. We are not responsible for any financial decisions or losses.
