OpenAI is now valued at about $500 billion, making it the world’s most valuable private company. Here is how the ChatGPT-maker got there.

The $500 billion figure comes from a $6.6 billion secondary share sale in October 2025, when employees and early investors sold shares at that valuation. Importantly, the money went to them, not to OpenAI’s bank account.

Earlier, SoftBank led a $40 billion funding round in April 2025 that valued the company at $300 billion. Rapid growth in ChatGPT subscriptions, enterprise deals and API revenue drove the jump.

A secondary sale sets a market price based on what investors will pay for shares. Big tech backers are betting that OpenAI can turn its AI lead into lasting profits.

Reports suggest OpenAI has pushed plans for an initial public offering to 2027, with a target valuation of $1 trillion, while rival Anthropic raised funds at $61.5 billion. Whether the valuation is justified depends on OpenAI sustaining growth, winning the enterprise race, and turning massive compute spending into real cash flows.