OpenAI has reached an agreement with Japan's SoftBank Group, allowing about 400 current and former employees to cash out millions of dollars by selling shares to SoftBank. According to sources, SoftBank will acquire OpenAI shares at a price of $210 per share, with a total amount potentially reaching $1.6 billion. Employees can cash out part of their equity through this transaction, provided they received restricted stock units over two years ago.
OpenAI's current valuation is $157 billion, and eligible employees must decide whether to sell their shares by December 24. Current employees can cash out a maximum of $10 million each, while former employees have a maximum limit of $2 million.
The total amount of this transaction is expected to be $2 billion, of which SoftBank has agreed to purchase $1.6 billion in shares, while the remaining $400 million in shares may go unsold.