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.
