Tech media The Information reported that since 2021, employees and former employees of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI have cashed out nearly $3 billion through multiple rounds of equity sales. For a company that has only been in existence for six years, such a large-scale employee wealth realization is rare, even approaching the employee cash-out level of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The report revealed that Japanese investment heavyweight SoftBank has become the largest buyer of OpenAI employee stock. This spring, SoftBank purchased about $240 million worth of shares from a small group of current and former employees. Previously, in January this year, SoftBank invested $1.5 billion to buy current and former employee stocks after OpenAI completed a $15 billion valuation in a $6.6 billion financing round. In summary of all transactions, SoftBank has purchased approximately half of the nearly $3 billion worth of employee cash-out stocks, making it the most aggressive player in this valuation game.
Data shows that OpenAI has basically maintained an annual frequency of twice employee stock sales, a rhythm even exceeding many mature tech companies. More noteworthy is the employees' enthusiasm for participation: in the first stock sale in August 2021, 90% of eligible employees chose to cash out at $52 per share; by January this year, 74% of eligible employees still sold their shares at close to $210 per share. Now, with the company's latest round of financing pushing the valuation to $260 billion, the share price has exceeded $250 per share. Many employees may regret selling too early, while the market is also expecting whether the company will soon organize another round of cash-outs at the new price.
Employee equity cash-out is considered by many CEOs as a key tool for retaining talent, especially in the intense talent competition between OpenAI, AI startups like Anthropic and xAI, and tech giants like Meta Platforms. However, the other side of cashing out is the potential acceleration of employee departures—after achieving financial freedom, they might choose to start businesses or even "retire" directly.
It was reported that young companies like Anthropic and xAI also arranged large-scale employee stock sales. AI cloud service provider CoreWeave also held two major secondary stock sales in 2023 and 2024, where founders and other shareholders sold a total of $1.3 billion worth of existing shares to investors including Fidelity, BlackRock, and Coatue Management.
OpenAI faces particularly severe competitive pressure, with emerging forces like Thinking Machines Lab founded by former CTO Mira Murati diverting top research talent. Although equity cash-outs temporarily alleviate employees' economic anxiety, whether they can retain core teams in the long run remains a challenge the company must confront.
