OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has reached a $500 billion valuation following a secondary share sale worth $6.6 billion, Reuters reported on Thursday. Current and former employees sold shares to a consortium of major investors including SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price.
The transaction marks a sharp jump from OpenAI’s earlier $300 billion valuation, underscoring its rapid growth in both users and revenue. According to The Information, the company generated $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025—16% more than its entire 2024 revenue.
The sale adds to SoftBank’s earlier participation in OpenAI’s $40 billion primary funding round, highlighting growing investor confidence in the AI leader. The move also comes at a time when global tech giants are battling for top AI talent, with Meta recently poaching Scale AI’s 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its superintelligence division.
