From TechCrunch: OpenAI has sold $6.6 billion in shares held by current and former employees, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The sale pushed OpenAI’s total valuation to $500 billion, the highest ever achieved by a privately held company. Purchasers included SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, MGX, and T. Rowe Price, the report said.
The sale was not a conventional funding round, as the cash went to individuals holding shares or options in OpenAI rather than the company’s own coffers. Still, it’s a powerful retention tool for the company, which has faced significant pressure from Meta’s newly revitalized AI lab. This summer, Meta poached at least seven top engineers from OpenAI, often luring them away with multi-million dollar signing bonuses.
OpenAI’s most recent funding round came in August, when it completed a $40 billion fundraise at a $300 billion valuation. SoftBank, Thrive, T. Rowe Price, and Dragoneer were also investors in that round, as well as private equity firms like Blackstone and TPG, and major venture capitalists like Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz.
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