OpenAI Valued at $500 Billion After Share Sale to SoftBank, Others – Source

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has reached a valuation of $500 billion following a secondary share sale involving current and former employees, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. In the deal, employees sold shares worth about $6.6 billion.

The new valuation marks a sharp rise from its previous $300 billion estimate, reflecting rapid growth in both OpenAI’s user base and revenues. Reuters had first reported details of the share sale in early August.

According to the source, employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price. The person requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The source added that OpenAI had approved sales of more than $10 billion worth of stock on the secondary market.

Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX, and T. Rowe Price did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The share sale follows SoftBank’s earlier investment as part of OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round.

Earlier this week, The Information reported that OpenAI generated about $4.3 billion in revenue during the first half of 2025, nearly 16% more than its revenue for the whole of last year.

The deal comes as tech giants intensify their battle for AI talent with lucrative compensation packages. Meta (META.O), in particular, has invested billions of dollars in Scale AI and recently tapped its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to head a newly created superintelligence unit.