According to a source familiar with the matter reported by Reuters on Thursday that OpenAI, which is the creator of ChatGPT, has now estimated a high value of $500 billion, following an agreement in which current and former employees sold approximately $6.6 billion worth of shares in a transaction.
This indicates the increase in its current valuation of $300 billion, which highlights the high rate at which OpenAI is gaining users and revenue. Reuters announced the sale of the stock in August.
In the deal, OpenAI staff sold shares to a consortium of investors, including Thrive Capital, Softbank, Dragoneer Investment Group, MGX of Abu Dhabi, and T. Rowe Price, according to the source, who chose to remain anonymous, as no one was supposed to speak to the media.
The sources reported that the firm had licensed the sale of more than $10-billion-plus of stock in the second-hand market.
Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX, and T. Rowe Price could not provide an immediate commentary on the requests of Reuters.
The sale of the shares is an addition to the previous investment that SoftBank made in OpenAI’s primary funding round, amounting to $40 billion.
The Information reported earlier this week that the company had made approximately $4.3 billion in revenue during the first half of 2025, which is nearly 16 percent greater than what it made all of last year.
The acquisition is made in a period when tech giants are aggressively vying for AI talent with competitive pay packages. Meta is also making significant investments in Scale AI and has hired its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to head its new super intelligence division.
