The rapid growth of the artificial intelligence industry created a major wealth milestone for OpenAI employees in October 2025. According to a report, more than 600 current and former employees sold shares worth a combined $6.6 billion in a single day, making it one of the biggest employee stock sales in the history of the technology sector.
The report stated that each employee received nearly $11 million on average through the share sale. Around 75 employees reportedly reached the maximum permitted sale amount of $30 million each.
The large-scale stock sale highlighted the growing financial power of AI companies even before entering public markets. Unlike many traditional technology firms that relied on IPOs for employee payouts, OpenAI reportedly used tender offers to provide liquidity to its workforce while remaining privately held.
The company also increased its internal share-selling limit from $10 million to $30 million per employee after strong investor demand. Employees holding company shares reportedly had to wait 2 years before becoming eligible to sell them. October 2025 marked the first major opportunity for many employees to cash out shares since the launch of ChatGPT.
According to the report, several employees chose not to keep all the proceeds personally. Many reportedly moved part of their earnings into donor-advised charitable funds, which allow investments toward philanthropic causes while offering tax benefits in the same financial year.
The report further stated that the value of shares held by some early employees rose more than 100 times over the last 7 years. During the same period, the Nasdaq Composite reportedly increased around 3 times.
OpenAI is also said to offer highly competitive compensation packages, especially for technical roles, with some annual salaries reportedly exceeding $500,000. In 2025, the company also awarded multi-million-dollar one-time bonuses to select employees.
Some executives reportedly hold equity worth billions of dollars. OpenAI President Greg Brockman is said to hold around $30 billion in equity value, while CEO Sam Altman reportedly does not own equity as the company operates under a nonprofit structure.
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