OpenAI is currently expanding the scale of its stock sale procedures for past and present employees for investors.
According to U.S. economic media CNBC on the 3rd (local time), OpenAI has raised the amount that past and present employees can sell their stocks to other investors to $10.3 billion (about 18.79 trillion won). This is an increase of over 70% from the initial target of $6 billion. OpenAI conveyed this offer to employees on the same day, and employees who have held stocks for more than two years must decide whether to participate by the end of September. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of October.
In this transaction, OpenAI's market value is estimated at $500 billion (approximately 695.35 trillion won). This is significantly higher than the $300 billion valuation during the investment round in March this year. Participating investors include Japan's investment corporation SoftBank, venture capital firm Thrive Capital, and the sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi MGX.
OpenAI has been providing employees with opportunities to sell their equity at certain points in time. This aims to give employees the chance to realize profits through stock sales while reducing pressure for an initial public offering (IPO). Last November, OpenAI allowed employees to sell about $1.5 billion worth of stock through a public buyout with SoftBank.
The reason for the expansion of this transaction remains unknown. However, the stock sales by employees took place shortly after a significant exodus of AI talent to Meta. Meta recruited AI talent from competitors by offering salary packages worth several hundred million dollars per person, among which about 20 individuals, including OpenAI researchers, are reported to have moved to Meta.