OpenAI has spent roughly $7 billion of its own cash to buy back employee shares, keeping its valuation flat at $852 billion. The self-funded tender offer breaks from the company's usual pattern of relying on outside investors to finance such buybacks.
A Break From Investor-Funded Tenders
In 2023, an investor-funded tender tripled OpenAI's valuation to $86 billion. Then in October 2025, Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and others bought $6.6 billion in employee shares, valuing the company near $500 billion. By March 2026, a $122 billion funding round pushed the valuation to $852 billion, a figure OpenAI confirmed months after filing a confidential IPO registration with regulators.
This time, OpenAI is footing the bill itself. That keeps the cap table free of new outside holders before a potential listing. It also signals the company has enough cash on hand after its March raise to cover the buyback without diluting existing shareholders.
Cash on Hand and a Flexible IPO Path
CEO Sam Altman told staff in June he expects OpenAI to go public within the next year. Other reports point to a possible delay into 2027. By funding the tender alone, OpenAI keeps its IPO timeline flexible rather than answering to new investors who might push for a faster listing.
The move also contrasts with how employees have behaved in earlier tenders. At OpenAI's previous buybacks, staff sold heavily, leaving billions in investor demand unmet. That pattern suggests employees are eager to cash out, but the self-funded approach gives the company more control over the process.
The Price War With Anthropic
OpenAI is in an intensifying price war with Anthropic, cutting prices even as infrastructure costs climb. Anthropic's April tender, tied to a $30 billion funding round, came in below target because employees held onto their shares. That's a different outcome from OpenAI's earlier tenders, where employees sold in large numbers.
The self-funded buyback doesn't change the competitive pressure. It does, however, give OpenAI a way to reward employees without adding new voices to its shareholder base.
Whether OpenAI files its IPO paperwork this year or pushes into 2027, the self-funded tender leaves that decision open. The company has not set a date, and the cash it just spent on its own shares is one more sign it's in no rush to answer to the public markets.
