600+ OpenAI employees sell shares as valuation hits $852B

More than 600 current and former OpenAI employees sold part of their equity after the company closed a $122 billion funding round in March 2026 that valued the firm at $852 billion ahead of a possible initial public offering.

The sales extend a yearlong series of secondary transactions. Employees sold about $6.6 billion in shares in an October 2025 tender offer. The recent transactions came after the March financing.

The March round was led by SoftBank and included Andreessen Horowitz, D.E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, T. Rowe Price, Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft. OpenAI raised about $3 billion from retail investors through bank channels in March, widening its shareholder base before a potential public listing.

OpenAI grants large equity packages to staff, with average stock compensation around $1.5 million. Secondary markets provide one of the few routes for employees to access cash before a public listing and the post-IPO lock-up period.

In regulatory disclosures filed in March 2026, the company reported roughly $2 billion in monthly revenue and more than 900 million weekly active users. Its business segment accounted for about 40% of revenue, up from 30% a year earlier. The company expanded its revolving credit facility to $4.7 billion.

OpenAI has made substantial infrastructure and capacity commitments. Agreements include a potential five-year Oracle cloud contract valued at up to $300 billion, a $22.4 billion deal with CoreWeave and participation in a $500 billion joint venture called Stargate with SoftBank and Oracle.

The recent secondary sales increased the number of insiders who have realized gains while OpenAI remains private and prepares for a possible IPO.