OpenAI lets employees cash out another $7 billion in stock

OpenAI just minted a few more multimillionaires. The company wrapped up a stock buyback worth roughly $7 billion, Bloomberg reports. Current and former employees were able to sell shares at the company's current $852 billion valuation. The tender offer had been in the works since OpenAI's $122 billion funding round in March. The goal is to take pressure off employees waiting for liquidity ahead of a potential and delayed IPO.

Back in October 2025, OpenAI ran a similar stock sale worth $6.6 billion, with about 75 employees cashing out up to $30 million each. The growing wealth in the AI industry has side effects, too. In San Francisco, AI salaries are driving rents so high that even top earners struggle to find apartments. Wealthy families are sending their kids to AI-focused private schools that charge up to $75,000 a year.

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