Over 600 current and former employees participated in a secondary transaction last October, collectively realizing roughly $6.6 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. This transaction valued the company at approximately $400 billion.
It is reported that about 75 employees sold the maximum amount allowable under the agreement. Some individuals allocated their remaining shares into donor-advised funds, enabling them to contribute to charitable causes while gaining tax advantages.
This development represents one of the most significant wealth-generation moments in the history of San Francisco and other tech hubs, prior to the company even going public. Firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic are projected to become some of the largest stock market listings in the future. Once that occurs, many employees could find themselves as multimillionaires.
Numerous OpenAI employees who joined after ChatGPT’s launch were able to liquidate shares for the first time after completing a mandatory two-year waiting period.
This sale underscores the immense value that AI companies have attained in recent times. Currently, OpenAI stands as the world’s most-valuable tech startup. Employees who received shares when the company first began issuing them seven years ago have seen their worth increase more than 100-fold.
The race for AI talent has also driven compensation packages to unprecedented levels. OpenAI offers annual salaries exceeding $500,000 for certain technical positions and provides substantial stock-based incentives. Competing companies are also investing heavily to lure top-tier researchers, with Meta reportedly offering packages valued at $300 million to select individuals.
The abrupt surge in wealth among professionals in the AI sector has already made waves in San Francisco, where rental prices are rising and concerns are escalating regarding a widening divide between highly compensated tech employees and other city residents.
Previously, OpenAI had restricted employee share sales to $10 million per transaction, which left many leading researchers and engineers feeling dissatisfied. In response to strong investor interest, the AI company subsequently raised the limit to $30 million.
