OpenAI has used tender offers to give employees liquidity without going public. The most significant to date: a tender in October 2025 in which more than 600 current and former employees sold approximately $6.6 billion of stock. Here is what actually happened, how tender offers work, and what it signals now that OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO.

What happened in the October 2025 tender

Per Reuters and other coverage:

• More than 600 current and former OpenAI employees sold shares.

• Each participant could sell up to $30 million; roughly 75 people hit that cap.

• Total sales came to approximately $6.6 billion.

• The sale valued OpenAI at approximately $500 billion at the time, one of the largest employee liquidity events in technology history.

• Buyers included major existing investors, with Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and T. Rowe Price among those backing the transaction.

Since then, the company's paper valuation has moved substantially: OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, confirmed in March 2026. And in June 2026, CNBC reported that OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO, formally starting the path to public markets.

What a tender offer actually is

A tender offer in a private company is a structured, company-approved window in which existing shareholders (usually employees and early investors) can sell shares to pre-arranged buyers at a fixed price. It is the opposite of the open secondary market:

• The company sets the terms: who can sell, how much, at what price, and who buys.

• ROFR is not an issue because the company organized the sale itself.

• Price becomes a reference point. Tender prices function as semi-official marks that secondary markets and later rounds anchor to.

Why companies like OpenAI run tenders instead of IPOs

1. Retention. Employees sitting on eight-figure paper wealth with no liquidity eventually leave to realize it. Letting them sell a capped slice keeps them.

2. Cap table control. Buyers are hand-picked institutions, not thousands of small holders arriving through fragmented secondaries.

3. Valuation signaling without disclosure. A tender sets a price without publishing an S-1's worth of financials.

4. Pressure release before the IPO. The more liquidity insiders get privately, the less selling pressure builds for the eventual lockup expiration.

The scale of OpenAI's tender, and roughly 75 people maxing out at $30 million each, tells you how much wealth had accumulated and how much pressure the company needed to release.

Can outside investors participate in an OpenAI tender?

Directly, almost certainly not. Tender buyers are large institutions selected by the company. For accredited investors, realistic exposure routes are:

• Secondary platforms (Forge, Hiive, EquityZen) where OpenAI positions occasionally appear. Note that OpenAI restricts transfers, and its structure (with the nonprofit conversion to a public benefit corporation) makes direct secondaries more complex than typical private stock. Only transact where the transfer is company-approved.

• Funds with disclosed exposure, such as venture funds and public vehicles that hold OpenAI positions in diversified portfolios.

• GP-led SPVs holding company-approved positions, which pool accredited investors at lower minimums.

Be wary of anything marketed as OpenAI "tokens," forward contracts, or unapproved SPVs. OpenAI has publicly warned against unauthorized instruments, and positions that violate transfer restrictions risk being voided.

What the tender history means for the IPO

• A price ladder exists: roughly $500 billion at the October 2025 tender, $852 billion at the March 2026 round. Investors entering via secondaries today are buying near the top of that ladder, so the pre-IPO discount is thin.

• Insider supply at listing may be lower than at a typical IPO, because billions in employee equity were already sold privately. That can reduce post-lockup selling pressure.

• The tender-to-IPO sequence is now the standard playbook for mega-cap private companies: release pressure privately, then list. SpaceX ran years of tenders before its June 2026 listing; OpenAI appears to be following the same arc.

For GPs: the operational angle

Tender windows and company-approved secondary blocks move fast, and allocations are use-it-or-lose-it. GPs who syndicate these positions need a vehicle formed, LPs onboarded with KYC/AML, and capital collected inside tight deadlines. Allocations provides that infrastructure at a flat fee with no platform carry: formation, compliance filings, banking, and K-1s in one system. See our guide on how to invest in OpenAI pre-IPO for the full access landscape.

Frequently asked questions

What was the OpenAI tender offer? A company-approved sale window in October 2025 in which 600+ current and former employees sold about $6.6 billion of shares, up to $30 million each, at a valuation of approximately $500 billion, with buyers including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and T. Rowe Price, per press reporting.

Is OpenAI going public? CNBC reported in June 2026 that OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO. No date, price range, or ticker is public yet.

Can I buy OpenAI stock in a tender offer? As an outside individual investor, no. Tender buyers are institutions chosen by the company. Outside exposure comes through company-approved secondaries, funds with OpenAI positions, or GP-led SPVs.

What valuation is OpenAI now? The last confirmed round was $122 billion raised at an $852 billion post-money valuation, confirmed in March 2026. Any IPO valuation is speculation until a public filing.

Figures are from public press reporting as of July 13, 2026, primarily Reuters, Yahoo Finance, and CNBC coverage. Private company valuations move quickly and reported figures sometimes differ across outlets. Nothing here is investment advice.