OpenAI's Expanded Secondary Equity Offer - September 2025

OpenAI has announced the expansion of its subordinate share offer for current and former employees, which offers them the opportunity to achieve liquidity without the need for an IPO. The offer focuses on employees who have owned shares for more than two years, reflecting the company's strategy to reward its team while sustaining its future growth.

Financial details

The size of the offering increased from $6 billion to $10.3 billion, with a new valuation of $500 billion compared to a previous valuation of $300 billion in the last funding round. Investors participating in the offer include SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund MGX, and T. Rowe Price. The deal is expected to close in October 2025, with the deadline for participation being the end of September 2025.

Context and analysis

This offering reflects OpenAI's dual strategy, aimed at enabling employees to achieve liquidity without pressure towards an IPO, while at the same time demonstrating confidence in its market position and ability to grow ahead of any public offering. The company's new $500 billion valuation reflects optimism towards OpenAI's business model and the proliferation of the company's ChatGPT applications and enterprise contracts.

Industry-wide, secondary offerings have become commonplace for major high-value tech companies such as SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks, as these offerings aim to support employee empowerment and minimize pressure on the public market at IPO.