OpenAI, the creator of the popular ChatGPT, has just completed a massive share deal that catapulted it to the top. The company reached a staggering valuation of $500 billion (approximately CZK 11.5 trillion), making it the most valuable private company in the world. This achievement even surpassed Elon Musk's SpaceX. Details of how this happened come directly from a recent share sale in which current and former employees sold their stakes for a total of $6.6 billion.
Deal details
The main buyers of the shares include well-known names such as Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi's MGX, and T. Rowe Price. This sale was not a traditional fundraising effort for the company itself—the money went directly into the pockets of the employees selling their shares. Nevertheless, it pushed OpenAI's overall valuation significantly higher than its previous level of $300 billion (about CZK 6.9 trillion), which it had reached as recently as August 2025 during a SoftBank-led funding round. The deal took place as a secondary sale, meaning it involved the transfer of existing shares between private parties.
Company growth
OpenAI is growing rapidly, and this deal only underscores that. In the first half of 2025, the company reported revenue of $4.3 billion (approximately CZK 98.9 billion), demonstrating strong interest in AI technologies. The company is planning massive infrastructure investments, including a five-year, $300 billion deal (about CZK 6.9 trillion) for cloud services from Oracle. This helps retain talented people within the company, especially as competitors such as Meta lure OpenAI engineers with multimillion-dollar bonuses.
Thanks to this deal, OpenAI overtook SpaceX and became the world's most valuable private company. At the beginning of the year, it was valued at around $300 billion, but rapid growth in artificial intelligence attracted investors like a magnet. SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, and others, for example, see enormous potential in OpenAI, which is reflected in their willingness to pay high prices for its shares.
With such a valuation, OpenAI is strengthening its position in the battle for dominance in AI. The company, led by Sam Altman, is focused on further expansion, including its partnership with Microsoft, which was recently revised due to changes in OpenAI's structure aimed at profitability. Investors such as Thrive Capital and T. Rowe Price are betting on long-term success, which could open the door to even larger projects.
Source: bloomberg.com
