SoftBank Secures Bigger OpenAI Stake With $1.5B Employee Share Buyout: Report

Kaustubh Bagalkote

November 27, 2024

OpenAI enables employees to sell up to $1.5 billion worth of shares in a tender offer led by SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY) (OTC:SFTBF).

What Happened: The transaction, set to close by Dec 24, allows SoftBank to deepen its stake in the AI leader while offering liquidity to current and former employees, reported CNBC, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal, priced at $210 per share, aligns with OpenAI’s recent $157 billion valuation. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son drove the move, following a $500 million investment in OpenAI's last funding round. This marks another step in Son's aggressive AI strategy, with SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 also backing startups like Glean and Perplexity.

OpenAI, backed by $13 billion in funding from investors including Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), has emphasized the importance of such tender offers amid a dormant IPO market.

This initiative reflects the company’s commitment to employee satisfaction and continued capital-raising to sustain its growth in the competitive generative AI market.

SoftBank and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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