OpenAI is the world’s most valuable private company after private stock sale (techcrunch.com)

OpenAI sold roughly $6.6 billion of existing shares held by current and former employees to investors including SoftBank, Dragoneer, Thrive Capital, MGX and T. Rowe Price, valuing the company at about $500 billion — the highest-ever private-company valuation. The transaction was a secondary share sale (cash went to employees, not OpenAI), but it provides liquidity, a powerful retention tool amid heavy recruiting from rivals like Meta, and signals continued investor confidence in OpenAI’s runaway growth and strategic position in AI. The deal complements a $40 billion funding round in August that priced OpenAI at $300 billion and reinforces its ability to tap private capital while pursuing massive infrastructure plans (notably a $300 billion Oracle Cloud Services commitment over five years and a reported $100 billion Nvidia partnership). Operationally OpenAI still generates significant revenue ($4.3B in H1 2025) but is burning cash ($2.5B), and its conversion to a for‑profit structure remains legally unresolved — secondary sales could complicate that process. Technically, the company is rapidly expanding product suites (Sora 2 video model and a social feed this week), underscoring why investors are backing an AI firm that’s prioritizing both R&D scale and talent retention.