OpenAI’s reported plans to pursue an IPO later this year could be a massive windfall—not just for investors betting on the AI boom, but for the company’s own employees.
The ChatGPT maker’s average stock-based compensation hit a whopping $1.5 million among its roughly 4,000 employees in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal. With a reported $830 billion valuation from its latest funding round, the company ranks among the most valuable private firms ever. An IPO at or near that level could turn thousands of employees into multimillionaires.
This unprecedented employee equity sharing is the highest of any major tech startup in recent history.
The next closest example is when Google went public in the early 2000s. Its average stock compensation was about a quarter of a million dollars (when adjusted for inflation)—about one-sixth of OpenAI’s current standing.
With AI rivals such as Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, and Google all aggressively looking to poach top tech talent capable of building next-generation AI models at scale, OpenAI’s equity strategy appears to be rooted in retention. Nearly half, about 46.2%, of OpenAI’s annual revenue is going toward providing stock-based compensation, underscoring just how fierce the war for AI talent has become.
But with OpenAI’s $1.5 million figure as just the average among employees, some of its top talent are likely receiving even higher stakes. Stock grants for research scientists can range between $2 million to $4 million at a Series D startup, Tim Tully, a partner at Menlo Ventures, told Fortune last year.
OpenAI is hiring for hundreds of roles—and college degrees aren’t required
OpenAI isn’t slowing down in its growth, either. The company currently lists over 450 open roles in the U.S. alone, spanning research, product policy, go-to-market, and more. The job qualifications are typically lean, spelling out a handful of core expectations. Some roles suggest candidates might “thrive” with a certain degree, but few explicitly require one. Instead, OpenAI emphasizes demonstrated ability, technical depth, and mission alignment.
Compensation is just as striking. Salaries typically begin at over $200,000 for many roles—in addition to equity offerings. Relocation assistance is often offered.
Its early-career pipeline is also lucrative. A fall software engineering internship, for example, advertises pay of $60 per hour—along with what amounts to a foot in the door at one of the fastest-growing companies in the world.
For those with dreams of working at a company like OpenAI—and potentially getting in on the equity opportunities—CEO Sam Altman’s advice is simple: master AI tools.
“The obvious tactical thing is just get really good at using AI tools,” Altman said on the Stratechery podcast last year.
“Like when I was graduating as a senior from high school, the obvious tactical thing was get really good at coding, and this is the new version of that.”
Fortune reached out to OpenAI for comment.
The AI boom is minting massive wealth—but top AI leaders are planning to give it all away
Not everyone at the top of the AI world is holding onto equity.
Altman, in fact, owns no equity in the company he is building, and his salary is relatively meager. In 2024 he made just $76,001. Still, Altman remains extraordinarily wealthy, with a net worth of $3.1 billion, according to Forbes—thanks in part to investments in other companies like Stripe, Reddit, and nuclear fusion firm Helion.
In 2024 Altman signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment launched by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates to give away at least 50% of their wealth to philanthropy, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.
“We would not be making this pledge if it weren’t for the hard work, brilliance, generosity, and dedication to improve the world of many people that built the scaffolding of society that let us get here,” Altman wrote alongside his husband, Oliver Mulherin.
“There is nothing we can do except feel immense gratitude and commit to pay it forward, and do what we can to build the scaffolding up a little higher.”
Other AI leaders have been more explicit about their concerns that artificial intelligence could accelerate wealth concentration. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, recently warned that AI-driven productivity gains could funnel unprecedented value to a small number of companies and individuals.
“The thing to worry about is a level of wealth concentration that will break society,” Amodei wrote in a letter published last month.
All seven of Anthropic’s cofounders—including Dario and his sister, Daniela Amodei—have since pledged to donate 80% of their wealth. Each cofounder is estimated to have a net worth of over $3.7 billion, according to Forbes.
And as leaders like Elon Musk predict a world where there will be no poverty owing to “universal high income,” Anthropic has begun thinking about how to redefine traditional ways of earning money among its employees.
“In the long term, in a world with enormous total wealth, in which many companies increase greatly in value due to increased productivity and capital concentration, it may be feasible to pay human employees even long after they are no longer providing economic value in the traditional sense,” Amodei wrote.
