OpenAI confidentially files S-1 with SEC, plans employee tender offer at 852 billion dollar valuation, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley advising
OpenAI has confidentially filed S-1 paperwork with the SEC, the first formal step toward a public listing. It plans a tender offer letting staff sell shares at its 852 billion dollar valuation. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advising. No date set yet, per CNBC.
OpenAI has taken its first formal step toward Wall Street. The company confidentially filed S-1 paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a move reported by CNBC and the Washington Post on June 8. A confidential filing lets a company begin the registration process with regulators without immediately disclosing its financials to the public, and OpenAI said it expected the filing to leak, so it disclosed the step itself. Alongside the filing, OpenAI plans a tender offer that would let current and former employees sell shares at the company's most recent post-money valuation of 852 billion dollars. Tender offers give staff a way to convert equity into cash without waiting for a public listing, easing the liquidity pressure that builds at fast-growing private companies. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are working with OpenAI on the process. The company has not set a date and has signaled that some of its plans may be easier to carry out while it stays private. The filing preserves the option to list when the timing makes sense. The step places OpenAI alongside two other heavyweight names moving toward public markets. Anthropic filed confidentially with the SEC about a week earlier, and SpaceX is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq in the coming days. Reporting from CNBC notes the three could rank among the largest IPOs on record. Sources: CNBC, Washington Post.